Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association

ES-CA, in cooperation with its subsidiary LPT and also LPA, asked Commissioner Dominguez to pull a Resolution from the Commission’s draft agenda crafted to guide future deliberations related to gravel mining of the BLM Buffalo Tract. Click here DRAFT County Resolution _15April2015 to see the proposed Resolution and here Resolution on BLM Buffalo Tract_Backup_ReducedSize to see the back-up material facts.

The Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association (ES-CA) was disappointed that Sandoval County was unwilling to support a strong Resolution concerning any future sand and gravel mining in the Placitas, Algodones, and Bernalillo areas. The “Whereas” clauses, the substance of any Resolution, cited relevant facts to be considered prior to any future County gravel mining approvals. The Resolution also reiterated the importance of public process anytime that a change in land use may defy reasonable expectations of property owners. Expectations of investment value are often formed by adjacent land use and zoning regulations.

Eastern Sandoval County currently has four of New Mexico’s thirteen largest gravel mines all within a six-mile radius of the Placitas community where more than 14,500 people reside in over 6,200 homes with no Federal, State, or County agency actively monitoring the cumulative effect of the fugitive dust and small particulates from these mines on surrounding residents. ES-CA will attempt to meet with the Sandoval County Manager to understand how the Resolution, brought forward by our Commissioner Dominguez, can remain intact for the Commission’s consideration for adoption. ES-CA is hopeful that a solution can be reached and a public hearing of the original document will occur.

The BLM Rio Puerco Resource Management Plan that includes the Buffalo Tract is now expected to be released in August or September. Information and debate on what is best for the State, County, and Placitas must be credible and result in what is best for the future of all, but especially for the protection of the health, esthetics and value of the Placitas area which faces additional gravel mining. With the support of Representative Smith, Environmental Secretary Flynn, and Bureau Chief Richard Goodyear of the NM Environmental Department (NMED), LPT is working to understand the cumulative effects of these multiple mines and I-25 traffic on Placitas and all of the adjacent communities.

Vulcan Materials have arranged a community meeting at the Placitas Library, Tuesday, July 7, from 4-6PM. During this past legislative session, and following the defeat of ES-CA’s House Bill 188 to allow greater County enforcement of its Zoning Laws, the mining lobby, through Representative Smith, offered to arrange a meeting with Vulcan leadership. This is not that meeting. Vulcan have stated that they would like first for the community to know their company character.

By clicking this link 28June2015_Vulcan Questions you will find the questions that ES-CA’s Land Protection Trust (LPT) provided to Vulcan and further below in this article Vulcan’s response . The lawsuit that Vulcan refers to is the Sandoval County vs. Lafarge lawsuit that is on its fifth or sixth judge without its first hearing. ES-CA has filed a complaint with the court to join this suit. ES-CA believe there are three primary violations. The first and second are that mine has grown past its permitted boundaries and its maximum active (un-reclaimed) quarry size. The third is that the mining lease, and therefore mining, are not to extended past 2015.

From: Goodrich-Welk, Barbara [mailto:goodrich-welkb@vmcmail.com]
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2015 8:20 PM
To: Bob Gorrell; Representative Jim Smith
Cc: Barbara Goodrich-Welk
Subject: Fwd: Vulcan Materials Company Open House–Placitas

Hi Bob. Yes, you are correct. Vulcan, as a matter of practice, believes that doing the right thing–socially, environmentally, financially–is the only way to be successful. That said, we understand that it may take time to develop and build a working relationship with the community. To that end, Vulcan views this Open House as a good first step toward building a respectful relationship with the community that surrounds our facility. We hope that the residents afford us the time and opportunity to demonstrate that we are a responsible company.

As I mentioned previously, there are a number of questions that your community members posed that we are unable to answer because the topic is subject to current and/or potential litigation. For those topics/questions, it would be inappropriate for us to comment. What I can tell you, however, is that Vulcan is excited to have acquired our predecessors business. We understand the community has questions about who we are and how we operate. Again, we are hopeful this open house is a good first step to start a positive dialog with the community.

Below are a couple of answers to questions posed prior to the open house. I took the liberty of merging several of the questions that were similar.

I am looking forward to meeting you and the residents of your community Tuesday. I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day weekend!

Barb

What protocols have been set up to address neighbor complaints and detrimental issues arising from the operation of the mine? / Will there be a contact or issue-resolution person at the home office that has the authority to address unresolved issues arising from operations?

Vulcan is committed to open and transparent communications with the community where we operate. Consistent with this practice, we have set up an 800 number for the residents to use as a direct line to our team. The number for this line will be provided at the Open House.  This can be used to contact a Vulcan representative that can assist you in answering questions that may arise. 

Consistent with Vulcan’s practices and standards of environmental and land stewardship, we have hired a full-time Environmental Specialist dedicated to support all of our NM operations, including the Placitas facility.  In addition to the NM area Environmental Specialist, our company has a Division Environmental Manager.  This manager is responsible for compliance support for all of our Mountain West operations (AZ and NM).  This manager is responsible for inspecting and auditing the effectiveness of our management systems at both the individual plant and area levels.

Is there any monitoring of air pollution outside the perimeter of the mine and in the Placitas community in order to provide clear demonstration that issues are not occurring?

Vulcan takes the safety of our workers and neighbors very seriously.  Our Safety Health and Environment (SHE) processes and practices were designed to meet and/or exceed applicable laws and plant-specific permit conditions.  Vulcan deploys three tools at every site:  Employee training.  Systems audits. Operating facility inspection plans. We are fully engaged with the appropriate regulating agencies on these matters.

Are you monitoring the incidence of respiratory issues at the mine perimeter and comparing this to the norm? What would you do to warn the community if levels at the mine reach an unusually high level?

Since Vulcan purchased the site last Fall, we have implemented a full Environmental Management System (EMS) which includes emissions control and reporting. We are committed to complying with our permit which is issued by NMED.  The permit developed by the NMED uses compliance standards that are designed to be protective of public health.  Our commitment is to fully comply with these standards and to openly communicate with our neighbors. 

Can the local community expect a greater effort from Vulcan to resolve detrimental issues arising from operations until mining cessation?

Vulcan is delighted to have acquired this business.  We understand the community has questions about who we are and how we operate. This Open House is our opportunity to start this positive dialog with the community.  

By Dick Ulmer – On Monday, the HEENC tabled (read that as “killed”) our proposed amendment to clarify and increase the fine for gravel mining operators who violate zoning laws in our 5 largest New Mexico Counties. It was a vote against local control. Speaking personally, (and as a very disappointed registered Republican) this came down to a party line vote where I can only conclude that the Republicans on this committee agreed that there should be a greater fine ($1000) for those who litter in this state than for unscrupulous businesses who fill the lungs of our citizens with dust, our ears with the noise of crushers and heavy equipment, and our eyes with 100’s of acres of scorched and un-reclaimed dirt ($300 fine). In the testimony given to the HEENC, we drew their attention specifically to this inequity—and to the lack of any state regulations (this state has arguably one of the best mining laws in the U.S.—yet they have decided that gravel mining is not mining and sand and gravel are not minerals—so the state laws do not apply to our issues), which means we have enforce things like noise control and reclamation with local zoning laws. We made it clear (as did the Sandoval County lobbyist) that the current $300 limit that the state places on fines for local zoning violators, makes local zoning ineffective and leaves only the courtroom as a very expensive way to protect our citizens, and that moves at glacial speed while the violations continue.

However, I want to point out the super job that Representative Smith did to try to guide this bill through (and in the time and coaching he gave us)—even though he was clearly flying in the face of his own party leadership. Also, we much appreciate the co-sponsorship of Senator Sapien—and only wish we could have found a way to get this into the Senate where I think we would have found a much more understanding climate for our dilemma and proposed solution. And we thank Bob Gorrell for his tireless efforts, and those of you who made the effort to go to the statehouse and show the priority we placed on this legislation, as did the many of you who took the time to write to the committee members.

We may be disappointed—but we are not beaten. We will increase our focus on the legal battle and hope to see the judge soon respond to our request for a hearing on our intervention request—and then act on the suit itself. ES-CA and LPT members are continuing to push the NM Environment Department with regard to their investigation of what is happening to the large levels of water and its contaminants after use in the mining operations, as well as pushing for mining area perimeter air quality/small particulate monitoring.

And we are preparing for battle when the BLM issues the Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Buffalo Tract.

So we hope that all of you will continue to provide the various kinds of support we need to continue to protect the beauty and quality of life that brings us to this wonderful area.

By Dick Ulmer.  HB188—to give our county some “teeth” in dealing with current and future gravel mining operators, has moved to its second committee and we need to let the committee members know how we feel.  Several of us (ES-CA President Bob Gorrell, and LPT Board members Dick Ulmer, Bob Byrd, Steve Vaughan) were in Santa Fe last week and visited individually with committee members, lobbyists, and other influencers.  Opposition from contractors and gravel operators is being loudly voiced—so we need to make sure we are heard.

Legislators need and want to hear from you.  Attached is the list of committee members that we need you to contact.  Also, we have provided a set of talking points that you should be able to copy and paste into your messages to them.  Click link to open 22Feb2015_CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES TO SUPPORT HB 188.

We will also send out an “all hands on deck” alert when this bill gets scheduled for a hearing in this committee so that any of you who can attend will be able to help us to further show we are serious about this.

Thank you for your help!