NMELC in the News
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center is frequently in the news, both locally and nationally. If you see references that we've missed, please forward them on to us at: nmelc@nmelc.org. Thank you.
Groups Urge EPA to Revoke Exemption for Uranium Mining Operation in Western New Mexico
Environmental groups are hopeful that a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a permit for a uranium mining operation in western New Mexico could lead to the end to the project. Members of Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center had voiced concerns to the EPA about deficiencies in the decades-old permit application.
The Republic
Go to The Republic to read full story.
State Regulators Consider Revisions to Oil, Gas Rules
Schreiber says in his experience, industry simply wasn’t cleaning up after itself, and the pit rules helped change that. “In exchange for the benefit our land delivers to the state, we expect the state to responsibly regulate industry,“ Schreiber said.
Eric Jantz, attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, predicts what will happen after next week’s hearing. He said the oil and gas industry is calling in favors on Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Oil Conservation Commission she hand-picked. “We expect [the Oil Conservation Commission] to give industry everything they want,“ he said. “Bottom line is, if the pit rule is gutted, we’re going to have increased incidences of groundwater and surface water contamination.“ Santa Fe New Mexican
Go to Santa Fe New Mexican for full story.
Activists Mount Campaign for EPA to Scrap N.M. Uranium Mine Permit
Environmental advocates are pressing U.S. EPA to revoke a key permit for a planned uranium mining facility in northwestern New Mexico adjacent to the Navajo Nation. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center and Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining say EPA is reconsidering a 23-year-old aquifer exception for Uranium Resources Inc.‘s project in the community of Church Rock, N.M. It is an area already polluted by past mining activities.
Eric Jantz, an attorney for NMELC, which has been helping ENDAUM fight new mining for years, said it “would contaminate potable water with radiation and heavy metals, making it unfit for consumption forever. The EPA has both the legal authority and moral obligation to revoke the aquifer exemption.“ Red Lodge Clearing House
Go to Red Lodge Clearing House for full story.
EPA Revisits Permit for What Could Be First in New Wave of Uranium Mines
But Eric Jantz with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center says the permit was based on limited and misleading water quality data. And now the Law Center is helping the group Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining petition for a revocation of the permit. So far, the groups’ online petition has gathered close to 10,000 signatures. Jantz says he thinks speculation in uranium may be overblown.
“That said, even if only a few materialize, based on history, those mines could do a lot of damage to state resources and public health.“ KUNM
Listen to Eric Jantz Talk to KSFR Radio Urging the EPA to Protect Navajo Water
Eric Jantz talks to KSFR about the aquifer exemption permit the EPA must revoke to protect a Navajo aquifer from uranium mining. The interview begins at 7:25. Listen now at KSFR.
Super Sucker Smackdown
At the end of March, the State Engineer agreed with them and denied Augustin Plains Ranch’s request. But this story may not be over. On Monday, April 9, the company announced it would appeal the decision in District Court.
Asking for permission to pump without saying how the water will be used treats water like a mineral resource, such as gold or copper, says Bruce Frederick, attorney with the Environmental Law Center. But under the Constitution, water belongs to the public. Augusta Plains Ranch “clearly just wanted to hold onto the water until the best price came along,” he says. Alibi
A Tale of Two CITEs
Southern NM courts Pegasus Global Holdings’ elusive “ghost town” test site
State Land Commissioner Ray Powell does have to consider the impact to any state land leased for such a project, however, notes Bruce Frederick, staff attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Although Powell is charged with maximizing income for the state, he also must make sure the land isn’t damaged and that the state isn’t incurring any liability, Frederick notes. And Powell has a lot of autonomy, because he acts independently of the governor.
“It’s hard for people to come in and challenge the things that [Powell] does because he has so much power and discretion,” Frederick says. Santa Fe Reporter
Augustin Plains Ranch Files Appeal
A partnership that wants to pump groundwater from its high desert ranch in west-central New Mexico to the Rio Grande Valley went to court Monday to appeal a state decision to deny its water rights application. “We believe this is a great project that deserves a hearing,” said Tom Carroll, spokesman for Augustin Plains Ranch LLC, in a statement issued Monday afternoon.
Bruce Frederick, the attorney for many of the area residents fighting the project, said the court should throw out the Ranch owners’ appeal. “I am not surprised,” he said, “however I think the appeal has no merit and should be dismissed.” El Defensor Chieftain
State Rejects Ranch’s Water Application
An application for a permit to pump massive amounts of groundwater from beneath the San Agustin Plains in west-central New Mexico was denied by the New Mexico State Engineer last Friday.
“I’m very happy about the state engineer’s decision,” said Bruce Frederick, an attorney with the Environmental Law Center who represented about 80 of more than 200 protestants. “We think it was compelled by law and absolutely correct. We only wish that the application was thrown out a few years ago when the application was first submitted. There was really no definite project that application wanted to do. They just wanted to stake a claim to a bunch of water.” El Defensor Chieftain
State Denies Sale of Groundwater
The Augustin Plains Ranch LLC investment group proposed drilling a field of wells on the ranch, near Datil in the high county west of Socorro, and piping the water to somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley to meet long-term shortages there among farmers, cities and the state. But the project team never said who would use the water and how. By failing to be specific about where the water was going, the project’s backers failed to meet the requirements of state law, Verhines ruled.
The project amounted to water speculation, which is illegal, said Bruce Frederick with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, one of the lead attorneys for a group of rural residents who fought to block the project. It is the second recent state ruling to conclude speculation is not allowed under state water law. “All this ruling does is confirm what anybody who knows about water law and cares about water law already knew,” Frederick said Monday. Albuquerque Journal
Official Rejects Request to Pump Water from Catron County to Santa Fe
A New Mexico hearing examiner recommends denial of a permit to a New York company seeking to pump millions of gallons of groundwater from Catron County in Southwestern New Mexico and make it available to cities including Santa Fe.
Bruce Frederick, who handled the case for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said the application sought rights to the largest amount of water he knows of from a private entity… Frederick said the application should never have been accepted by the state engineer. “We could have saved the state and the parties tens of thousands of dollars if someone at the [State Engineer’s Office] had recognized the application was invalid on its face,“ he said. Santa Fe New Mexican
NM Water Official Rejects San Augustin Application
The state’s top water official has denied a request from a New York-based commercial venture that sought to drill more than three dozen wells in western New Mexico.
Bruce Frederick, an attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said Tuesday that his clients were pleased with the state engineer’s decision. He had filed a motion to dismiss the application on behalf of about 80 groups and individuals.
“The state engineer’s decision confirmed what most objective water lawyers already knew — you can’t take the public’s water unless you have a concrete beneficial use in mind,“ Frederick said in a statement. Wall Street Journal
NM Regulators Scrap Carbon Emissions Rules
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WTW) — New Mexico regulators pulled the plug Friday on the state’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among coal-fired power plants, refineries and other large polluters.
Bruce Frederick, a staff attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said the evidence and the law don’t support the board’s decision. He accused the board, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and other utility and oil and gas interests of meeting privately and deciding to institute a new proceeding to repeal the rule rather than letting a court decide the issue. WSOC TV
EIB Repeals Second Carbon-Regulation Plan
The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board has repealed a mandate approved under former Gov. Bill Richardson to enforce reductions in carbon emissions.
New Mexico Environmental Law Center Staff Attorney Bruce Frederick, who represented the NEE in deliberations before the EIB, said the board based its decision exclusively on “industry evidence” that alleges the science of climate change is unsettled and that the carbon-emissions rule would be too burdensome to the state economy. New Mexico Business Weekly
State Axes Cap-and-Trade
After more than a year of death-defying escapes, an environmental rule was repealed on Monday, Feb. 6, with a unanimous vote by a Gov. Susana Martinez-appointed board.
Bruce Frederick is a staff attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which fought for the rule… He says the choice to repeal the rule is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons, wherein a resource that belongs to everyone and therefore no one, like air, is ruined by lack of accountability. “We never said that New Mexico was going to cure climate change,” he says. “No one jurisdiction can solve the problem. We can demonstrate some leadership, though.” Alibi