Majority Latino City Endures Years of Toxic Water in Health ‘Crisis’

By Silvia Foster-Frau

Washington Post

After repeated violations, the state of New Mexico has stepped in — but problems are a reminder that safe water is not available to all Americans

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. — Rosana Monge clutched her husband’s death certificate and an envelope of his medical records as she approached the microphone and faced members of the water utility board on a recent Monday in this city in southeast New Mexico. …

Sunland Park Déjà Vu: Water, Management Crisis and Community Protest

April 15, 2024

By Kent Paterson

El Chuqueño

Momentous days riveted April in the southern New Mexico border communities of Sunland Park and neighboring Santa Teresa, where renewed controversy over water quality grips the public stage..

Dozens of people jammed the small Sunland Park City Council chambers April 5 in a town hall convened by City Councilor Alberto Jaramillo. Billed as the “Let’s Celebrate Our Hispano Heritage” event, the gathering heard city and utility company officials report on different municipal initiatives. …

Woods: Potential Buyers are Not Admissible Evidence

April 11, 2024

By Jessica Carranza

El Defensor Chieftain

RESERVE – Judge Roscoe Woods of the Seventh Judicial District Court, granted the State Engineer’s motion for summary judgement thereby upholding the State Engineer’s denial of Augustin Plains Ranch LLC’s application to pump 54,000-acre feet of water a year from the San Agustin Plains basin at the Catron County Court house on April 5….

Speaking with One Voice

April 7, 2024

By Linda Pentz Gunter, Beyond Nuclear International

Tribes call for cleanup, remediation and an end to uranium mining and milling

They were there to tell their stories. The contamination of air, land and water. The sicknesses. The displacement. The loss of community, culture and language. The deprivation of fundamental human rights. And they spoke with one voice in their plea for justice, the voice of Indigenous peoples in the United States and their lived experience of uranium mines and mills. …

Judge Denies Pumping of Water from the San Agustin Basin

April 5, 2024 

by Jessica Carranza Pino

El Defensor Chieftain

Judge Roscoe Woods, Seventh Judicial District Court Judge, denied the application from the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC to pump 54,000 acre feet of water a year from the San Agustin Plains basin at the Catron County Court house this morning, April 5, in Reserve, New Mexico.

There was standing room only with over one hundred people present at the hearing in protest as lawyers shared their arguments for almost five hours. …