Vulcan Placitas Facility
Mining Activity Update to Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association (ESCA)
June 30, 2022
In August 2017, a settlement agreement was reached between Sandoval County and Vulcan Materials. Before extraction of materials in the north and northeast sections the agreement required Vulcan to construct a protective berm. The berm is required to be within a 100’ wide buffer area running parallel to Vulcan’s property line.
In May 2022 Vulcan began construction of the berm. The requirement was to follow the contour of the land and the berm must be 10’ high not accounting for the slope of the land. In some areas, the actual berm plus natural slope rendered the berm taller than 10’. The construction of the berm is nearing completion and should be finished by the end of June. The berm has not satisfied everyone along its path. No flexibility was provided in the settlement agreement to adjust the berm along individual properties. That was unfortunate.
Culverts have been located along the berm and Vulcan is in the final phase of installing riprap and wattles on the Sundance side of those culverts.
The remaining item is hydro-seeding the entire berm. While I do not have an exact date, I am told it will be soon.
Mining continues in the western sections until early 2023. Reclamation of that area known as (Reclamation Areas 1 & 2) will begin at that time with completion by August 2023.
Mining will move to the north and northeast sections in early 2023 and will continue until August 2026. When mining is complete reclamation will begin in the areas known as (Reclamation Areas 4 & 5) and finish no later than May 2027.
The Settlement Agreement, including a map of the Reclamation areas, is on the SMHOA website in the Member Access area under Committees. The agreement is also on the ESCA website.
Gravel mining activity is dependent on the economy and the need for material. As such, conditions may change and if they do so in an impactful way, I will let everyone know. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Respectfully,
Ron Overley
ESCA – LPT