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.