New Mexico goes to court over slow cleanup at US nuclear lab

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is going after the federal government for failing to make progress on cleaning up contamination left behind by decades of bomb-making and nuclear research at one of the nation’s premier labs.

In a civil complaint Wednesday, the state says a plan by the U.S. Energy Department lacks substantive targets for dealing with waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The state is seeking to end a 2016 agreement that was meant to guide cleanup at the lab.

The state’s top environmental official says court supervision is needed to renegotiate the terms to protect the community and environment.

Federal officials didn’t immediately respond to questions about the complaint.