YEARS OF ILLEGAL ENVIRONMENT PRACTICES AT BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY ALLOW THE OPENING OF THE $400 MILLION RELATIVISTIC HEAVY ION COLLIDER (RHIC)

New management called upon to demonstrate their commitment to the public and the environment by preparing a long overdue environmental impact statement


October 01, 2025

[Long Island, NY] In an ongoing string of environmental violations it was recently disclosed that construction work activities at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) were being performed under an expired New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) permit. This recent disclosure compounds a long history of environmental violations at the RHIC.

Today, at a news conference in Mineola, the Community Alliance for Lab Accountability (CALA), a Brookhaven Lab watchdog group comprised of 33 environmental, health and spiritual organizations is calling upon the Department of Energy (DOE) and Brookhaven National Laboratory to comply with legally mandated public comment provisions. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) mandates environmental review for all "major" Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. However, "the environmental review that proceeded in 1991 failed to provide the legally mandated opportunity for public comment and review," stated Scott Cullen, Counsel for STAR, a member of CALA. Therefore, "CALA is asking the DOE to complete an environmental impact statement before the RHIC is completed and allowed to operate," stated Cullen. "The RHIC will be operated in a wetland and the environmental impacts must be fully assessed before operations commence," said Cullen.

"This would demonstrate the good faith of the new administration in ensuring that the community and environmental concerns are addressed," said Pete Maniscalco, a member of CALA. "The new management at BNL inherits a legacy of mis-management and environmental atrocities that make the task of the new administration a difficult one. However, if the BSA is to truly gain the trust of the community they must honestly and openly correct the mistakes of the past," stated Mr. Maniscalco. "This machine is considered a breakthrough, but probing the wonders of the natural world cannot be done without consideration of the impacts on the local environment," he added.

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