The New Mexico Environmental Law Center publishes the Green Fire Report newsletter regularly. Issues are available here. Want our monthly eNews emailed directly to your box? Sign up here!
Click here to visit the Green Fire Report Archive 2001 to Present
Cover Stories:
Second Major Victory in Water Grab Case
Martinez Administration Continues Attacks: Copper Rule Latest Target
Case Updates:
Navajo Mining Ban Under Threat
Historic Settlement between Navajo Nation and Uranium Resources Inc. - pg. 2
Mount Taylor Mine Goes to Court
Dairy Update
Oil & Gas Pit Rule
2013 Legislative Session
Who is Making Decisions for Our Environment? - pg. 3
Development News:
Thank you Green Business Partners!
"A Big Damn Deal" NMELC's Original Short Film - pg. 4
Twenty-fifth Anniversary Kick-off
Please Welcome Our New Director of Philanthropy: Elizabeth Lee - pg. 5
Thank Yous and Donor Acknowledgments - pg. 6, continued - pg. 7
Green Fire Report Sponsor: Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce - pg. 8
— 2001 to Present
How New Mexico’s copper industry wrote its own rules
To industry, the new rule represents the chance to profit and create jobs in New Mexico. Others see it as an abdication of the state’s responsibility to protect groundwater—and a move to hand over the public’s water to private companies…
when it comes to actually writing the rules—and upholding their integrity—it is NMED’s staffers who matter most. And that, to some observers, reflects another worrisome aspect of the changing rules. Over the past two years, NMED has seen an exodus that includes some of its best, most senior employees—including several longtime bureau chiefs. Santa Fe Reporter
Go to Santa Fe Reporter for full story.
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center says the change in the company’s plan is curious given that the market is soft and uranium mines in the U.S. are operating at less than one-third of their capacity.
The law center’s clients have also been pushing state mining regulators to require reclamation or cleanup of the mine under the existing standby permit. They are also appealing that permit. KOB.com
Go to KOB.com for full story.
SANTA FE, N.M. - Today, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) filed a request for a public hearing regarding a proposed permit revision to put the Mt. Taylor uranium mine on active status. The mine, near Grants, NM, has been inactive (on “standby” status) without cleanup for 23 years. The mine’s owner, Rio Grande Resources, received a fourth renewal for the standby permit in January 2012, but on April 12, 2013 it notified the public it was seeking a revision to change the mine’s status to “active”. The NMELC filed the hearing request on behalf of its clients, Amigos Bravos and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE).
Go to case page.
SANTA FE, N.M. - The New Mexico Court of Appeals struck down an effort by the Martinez Administration to repeal regulations favorable to the environment and reinstated the state’s energy efficiency building codes.
The energy codes, adopted before Governor Martinez came into office, were repealed by the State Construction Industries Commission in the summer of 2011. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) appealed the Commission’s move on seven grounds, including that the Commission failed to state the reasons for its decision as is required of all administrative agencies. The Court of Appeals agreed, and reversed the Commission’s decision. (Get PDF of Court of Appeals ruling)
Visit Repeal of Energy Efficient Building Codes case page
