Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association

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!

Many have asked how they can inform their Legislators of the importance of ES-CA’s responsible gravel mining legislation. Write them, go visit with them, and tell them in committee. The first committee hearing is this Friday, 2/13/15 with the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee or HRPAC (see Forum article “Legislation Needs Your Help”). Legislative committee members can be found by going to nmlegis.gov and then click on the tab for Standing Committees.  Opening this link will also take you to contact information for the HRPAC members.

E-mail is a good venue for written communication and the total number of letters, especially unique not form letters, is important.  Then it is important for in-person one-on-one lobbying with legislative members, and then finally, attending committee hearings is very important. Legislators want to know what gravel mining is doing to you and your neighbors.

We need to communicate to our legislators that:
1) We are not trying to stop all gravel mining (the majority of NM mines are less than 20 acres) — just the big ones that seem to feel they can abuse and ignore the communities that surround them and only need to satisfy their stockholders.
2) No substantial increases in development or highway costs can be justified, contrary to what these mines would have you believe, as most of the mines in this state are less than 20 acres in size — and would not be affected by this legislation (assuming, as we have agreed, that HB190 is so amended).
3) This is not simply an “enforcement issue” solvable with existing law–those agencies who currently issue permits to these mines are limited in scope and cannot provide the needed protection.

We in Placitas are seeing the issues of large-scale gravel mining as a result of the Lafarge (now Vulcan) mine. Vulcan has disturbed over 400 acres of land and has not  reclaimed any of it — all of which NM winds whip into our neighborhoods. Sandoval County has charged Lafarge with multiple violations which continue to be ignored while Lafarge forces it into the courts for meaningful resolution.

HB188 (Zoning Enforcement Law):
1) The current law is ambiguous — Sandoval County’s Attorney reads the max fine to be $300. Bernalillo County interprets it as $300 per violation per day.
2) At Lafarge’s 2013 reported transport tonnage levels, estimated revenues are $20K per day (averaged over 365 days per year) — even with Bernalillo County interpretation, fines are not sufficient to be a deterrent.
3) We need to level the playing field between deep-pocketed mining operations and tax-payer funded counties. We’re not trying to stop gravel mining — just protect our citizens.

HB190 (Certain Sand & Gravel under NM Mining Act):
Due to the current exclusion from the mining act, the only state permitting agency is NM Environment Department (NMED). NMED has charged Lafarge with multiple violations of the Air Quality requirements, but does not have sufficient statutory authority to provide the protection our citizens need and deserve.
1) NMED has no authority to require and enforce reclamation (as noted above, a major cause of both fugitive dust and reduced property values in Placitas) including requiring appropriate financial assurances — the Mining Act has this power.
2) The Mining Act limits the duration of mining permits and requires periodic re-justification with public hearings to ensure that the communities around the mine are not being improperly impacted — NMED does not.
3) The Mining Act permits require background checks on mining operators including compliance history at all mines operating now and in the past — NMED does not.
4) The Mining Act permitting process requires a more extensive analysis of the hydrological consequence (e.g. leaching, impact to aquifers, etc) than NMED. Lafarge used 94M gallons of precious water during the drought in 2013 (2-3x residential use levels) from a high arsenic source and the holding ponds leach back into our aquifer or into our air.

This Friday, February 13, ES-CA’s Bills HB188 and HB190 co-sponsored by Rep. Smith and Sen. Sapien will be heard in Santa Fe at 1:30PM in room 315 of the State Capital. If responsible gravel mining is important to you, please attend or at the very least, contact the members of the committee and let them know how you feel (see ES-CA Forum “What Legislators Want to Know”). This first hearing is in the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee (HRPAC). For the two responsible gravel mining bills to pass, we must convince HRPAC, then three other committees, the full House, and the full Senate that these Bills are important to the public and must pass.

Anyone wishing to carpool up to the hearing in Santa Fe should arrive at the MERC around 11:45PM this Friday to leave at noon. If you drive or ride the train up on your own, consider coming early to watching the House and Senate debate passage of bills.

You can read these bills by following these links HB188 and  HB190. The bills were formed by ES-CA in response to ongoing concerns of our Eastern Sandoval County citizens and ES-CA members, drafted into potential law by Representative Smith, and then co-sponsored by Senator Sapien. HB188 increases potential penalties for sand and gravel violations of county zoning ordinances. HB190 requires very large scale sand and gravel mines to meet the more cohesive requirements of the Mining Act from which they are currently excluded.

This is not just a localized issue. Some of the most beautiful areas of the state have large gravel deposits. While we use the Lafarge Pit as the current example, we are anticipating that the BLM will soon act to permit gravel mining on 2 sections of land (800 acres) also in the Placitas area — so we repeat: we are asking for our citizens to be protected from the negative impacts these mines have to our air, our water, and the value of our properties, and believe these bills to be tools we need.