FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE Wednesday, February 28, 2018 Zombie Uranium Mine Begins to Stir Mining and Minerals Division Permit Violates State Mining Act SANTA FE, N.M. — The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) and Amigos Bravos filed a Petition for...

NEW MEXICO 3RD DISTRICT COURT UPHOLDS STATE ENGINEER, HILLSBORO RESIDENTS AND LADDER RANCH IN COPPER MINING WATER RIGHTS CASE In a victory for community residents, the New Mexico Third Judicial District Court dismissed almost 90% of the water rights...

Amigos Bravos • Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 4, 2018 Mt. Taylor Mine “Return to Active” Permit Will Zombie Uranium Mine Continue to Avoid Cleanup? SANTA FE - On December 29, 2017 the New Mexico Mining and Minerals...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bernalillo County Commission (BCC) will hold a special hearing on Tuesday, August 15 to consider several issues concerning the Santolina mega-development proposed west of Albuquerque. This “Level B” process marks the last time under the county’s Planned Communities Criteria process that the BCC will be able to consider—or the public will […]

The Bernalillo County Commission (BCC) has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, August 15 for the proposed Santolina Level B.1 Master Plan. At that meeting, the Commission will also consider a recommendation by the County Planning Commission that the BCC strip proof-of-water conditions for the development. The Level B process marks the last […]

The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), a Santa Fe-based non-profit law firm, has been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant towards Healthy Environment, Healthy Families. The project uses public-interest law to safeguard public health and the well-being of New Mexico’s under served families. The grant was made by the W.K. Kellogg […]

Today community groups and residents of the South Valley appealed a decision from the Bernalillo County Planning Commission in the Santolina mega-development case. The Planning Commission recommends stripping key provisions that require the Santolina developers to prove that its project has water. The appeal was filed with the Bernalillo County Commission (BCC), […]

Oral arguments will be held tomorrow in the Aquifer Science water grab case. Residents are challenging developers’ attempts to resuscitate a failed water appropriation in a thinly veiled water speculation attempt. This case is an appeal of the 2014 decision by the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) denying Aquifer Science’s application […]

Today, the Honorable Judge Nancy Franchini of the New Mexico Second Judicial District Court, ruled that the Bernalillo County Commission did not grant community advocates a fair hearing when it approved the “Zone Map Amendment” (ZMA) for the proposed Santolina mega-development.

Residents of the communities in the East Mountains of Albuquerque, NM, have asked a judge to compel disclosure of the attorneys’ fees and costs of Aquifer Science, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of water development company PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PICO) that seeks to obtain water rights in the East Mountains. […]

Residents of the communities in the East Mountains of Albuquerque, NM, have asked a judge to throw out an appeal filed by Aquifer Science, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of water development company PICO Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PICO) that seeks to obtain water rights in the East Mountains.

Yesterday, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Quality Board unanimously voted to deny an appeal of an air pollution permit issued to Honstein Oil & Distributing, LLC. The Honstein facility is located near homes in the San Jose neighborhood in the South Valley of Albuquerque and holds a 6,000 gallon gasoline storage tank. The facility is one of many polluting facilities found in the South Valley, a community recognized by the US EPA as an “Environmental Justice community”.

On behalf of two community groups, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center submitted a Notice of Intent to Sue today to the McKinley County Commission identifying a possible Open Meetings Act Violation related to a meeting held in January 2017. Groups signing onto the letter include Red Water Pond Road and Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining. The letter outlines that the county failed to give proper notice about the meeting to the public, and didn’t publish the agenda in advance of the meeting.

Two New Mexicans were honored by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center on Sunday for their extraordinary contributions to protecting New Mexico’s water; a third was named the first two-time recipient of the Toxic Turkey.

The Copper Rule is a regulation adopted by the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) to regulate groundwater contamination by the copper mining industry. It is the first regulation since the state’s adoption of its Water Quality Act in 1967 that allows an entire industry to intentionally pollute groundwater. The Copper Rule was largely written by mining giant Freeport McMoRan, and adopted in October 2013. The state’s high court has been asked to set aside the Rule and require the WQCC to adopt a regulation that protects groundwater quality from copper mine contamination.