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LAS CRUCES - A group opposing the existing landfill in Sunland Park is urging state Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry to weigh in on a long-disputed landfill permit before leaving the post at the end of the week.
The Sunland Park Grassroots Environmental Group is hoping for Curry to deny the renewal for the Camino Real Landfill outright or reopen the case in light of a city of El Paso decision that will greatly reduce the amount of trash being dumped in the landfill, said group member and Sunland Park resident Robert Ardovino.
"Obviously, we're hoping he sides in the direction of the community, rather than the out-of-state corporation, the landfill," Ardovino said Tuesday.
The group has argued for years that a landfill in the city limits poses a health risk to the community, while Camino Real operators contend it's well-run and not a health threat.
Curry in recent months has twice postponed a decision on the renewal.
At issue is a February ruling by the state appeals court that specified Curry can't issue just a one-year permit to the landfill - as he'd done in 2009 - but rather must consider a 10-year permit only, as outlined in state law. The court then sent the case back to Curry.
Apparently, however, there's disagreement about some key language in the court's ruling. Specifically, it's this statement: "... we affirm the secretary's decision to grant the permit, but set aside the secretary's final order and remand for the secretary to consider an
Curry and his office could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Jim Little, a senior vice president for Waste Connections Inc., which owns the landfill, has said previously his company believes the court's ruling doesn't give Curry the discretion to deny the permit at this point, but rather that it deals with the duration of the permit. He reaffirmed that stance Tuesday.
"We don't really think anything has changed," he said. "The court has ordered Secretary Curry to issue a 10-year permit."
But the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, representing Ardovino and Sunland Park resident Luz Vargas, filed a motion with Curry's office in September asking him to re-examine some aspects of the permit proceeding, such as a decision by the city of El Paso to eventually route its garbage to city-run landfills, to the exclusion of Camino Real. The group argued that the source of garbage is a necessary consideration under state rules, and that, because El Paso will no longer be a source of the garbage, Camino Real's permit application is inaccurate, according to the motion. The group asked Curry to deny the permit, contending Curry still has the right to do so.
"There is nothing in the court of appeals opinion ... that mandates the issuance of a permit for the landfill," wrote a group of attorneys for the center.
Asked what she's hoping for in the landfill decision, Olga Arguelles, 40, a Sunland Park resident and activist, replied: "I'd like to see it closed permanently. I'm hoping that now that (company officials) don't have El Paso business, it wouldn't be as lucrative for them."
Ardovino acknowledged that Curry may simply not issue a decision before leaving. But he said Curry's boss, Gov. Bill Richardson, should intervene.
"In Sunland Park, we're constantly faced with environmental challenges, and we're hopeful this current administration will choose to do good in this case," he said. "We're hoping the governor will really come through for the community before they leave."
Little, too, said another postponement could occur.
"We're simply waiting on him to issue a final order, and the reality is, he might issue an extension and allow the next secretary to do it," he said.
The tenure of Richardson, a Democrat, ends Friday. Gov.-elect Susana Martinez, a Republican and Do-a Ana County district attorney, takes office Jan. 1.
Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.
On the Web
• New Mexico Environment Department: www.nmenv.state.nm.us
