LATEST NEWS
Santolina Zone Change Will Require Do-Over Vote
By Jessica Dyer, Albuquerque Journal
May 21, 2021
With the New Mexico Supreme Court’s recent decision not to weigh in on the years-long legal battle over Santolina, the planned community project is bound for a do-over vote by the Bernalillo County Commission to get its desired zone change….
NM Supreme Court Refuses to Review State Court of Appeals Ruling that Invalidated Zoning Change for Proposed Santolina Development
Santa Fe, NM – On April 16th, the New Mexico Supreme Court refused to review a ruling by the State Court of Appeals addressing the Santolina development that is proposed for Albuquerque’s West Mesa.
According to New Mexico Environmental Law Center staff attorney Douglas Meiklejohn, the Supreme Court’s ruling means that the decisions by the Court of Appeals concerning Santolina remain in effect.
“The Court of Appeals ruling means that the land in question remains zoned Rural Agricultural and that it cannot be used for a planned community such as Santolina,” said Meiklejohn.
Sen. Martin Heinrich gains support in effort to reinstate federal oil and gas methane rules
By Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus
April 23, 2021
Oil and gas companies and Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Main joined U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich’s (D-NM) efforts to restore federal controls on methane emissions from oil and gas operations, a reversal of multiple regulatory rollbacks enacted by former-President Donald Trump.
Heinrich and a group of Senate Democrats previously introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act, seeking to rescind the Trump administration’s cancellation of policies of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that saw it regulating methane released from multiple sectors of the oil and gas supply chain….
Kirtland AFB to hold virtual meeting on jet fuel spill cleanup
By Alyssa Bitsie, KRQE
April 22, 2021
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Air Force will give another update on the jet fuel spill at Kirtland Air Force Base. The leak, first detected more than 20 years ago, contaminated both soil and groundwater. The base has been working for decades to clean it up but it’s been an extremely slow process. Thursday night’s meeting will be held virtually starting at 6 p.m.
According to a news release from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, between five million and 24 million gallons of jet fuel remain underneath the ground in Albuquerque’s aquifer in a giant plume discovered in 1999. …
SWOP & NM Voices for Children Vow to Keep Up the Pressure on Kirtland Air Force to Clean Up Jet Fuel Spill
Between 5 million and 24 million gallons of jet fuel remain underneath the ground in Albuquerque’s precious aquifer in a giant plume that Kirtland Air Force Base discovered in 1999. Clean-up of the so-called spill has been moving very slowly for more than twenty years. The Air Force has not even fully characterized the spill, and now a judge has dismissed a case (SWOP et al., vs. US Air Force) that would have tried to get the Air Force to speed up the clean up of the contamination.
The EDB (ethylene dibromide) plume’s leading edge has been pulled back, but the main bulk of the plume has not yet been addressed, according to Charles de Saillan, staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, who is representing various clients on this important case.
“We are very disappointed in the decision,” said de Saillan, “and we are considering our options. The Air Force needs to be subject to an enforceable schedule for completing the investigation and cleanup of the plume.”