How is New Mexico spending your tax dollars to fight pollution?

The oil and gas industry continued to grow in the last year, bringing with it expanding oversight activities at the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) as the department seeks to prevent pollution from one of New Mexico’s biggest industries.

But regulating pollution from fossil fuels is only one aspect of the agency also tasked with functions like workplace safety, water infrastructure and minimizing environmental impacts from all industries and facilities in New Mexico.

The agency received $114 million in state and federal funding for the 2023 fiscal year, running from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, using it for myriad programs aiming to protect New Mexicans from pollution and other industrial harms.

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Here’s a look at the main accomplishments by NMED at the end of last year, according to its fourth quarter 2022 performance review.

Cracking down on ‘environmental crime’ in New Mexico

NMED launched its Environmental Crimes Task Force in November through a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meeting regularly with federal, state and indigenous agencies to identify violations of state law and coordinate responses.

The Task Force was intended to focus on “underserved” and marginalized communities, including low-income and communities of color.

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It will target operators that violate state regulations like industrial safety protocols, unauthorized pollution or records violations.

“The Environmental Crimes Task Force will bring much needed investigation and prosecution resources and coordination to New Mexico, which will serve to level the playing field and increase environmental compliance in our communities,” said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney.

How compliant is New Mexico with its own environmental rules?

About 99 percent of New Mexicans breathed clean air in Q2 of FY 2023, NMED reported, and 90 percent had access to safe drinking water.

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The NMED conducted 2,043 inspections across the state, finding air pollution sources, surface water discharge permittees and hazardous waste facilities were below the state’s required 85 percent compliance benchmark.

About 60 percent of air pollution sources were compliant, along with 50 percent of surface water dischargers and 10 percent of hazardous waste management sites, NMED reported.

Gila Forest asphalt spill leads to state cleanup effort

A tanker truck spilled 2,000 gallons of asphalt emulsifier in Jaybird Canyon within Gila National Forest near Silver City in September 2022.

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NMED began cleanup efforts after being notified Oct. 4, 2022, working with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Forest Service, the report read.

That meant cleaning the contaminant out of local streams and soils, but the EPA found the following month the work was insufficient, read the report, calling on the owner of the tanker R. Marley LLC. to deploy more resources to aid in the efforts.

Cleanup was suspended due to heavy snowfall in the area, but was planned for completion this spring, allowing stream remediation to begin. That will include reseeding the area and rehabilitating nearby trails.

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‘Hydrogen Hub’ moves forward as New Mexico joins with other states

NMED was a lead agency in forming a regional ‘hub’ of hydrogen power development with Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, and Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub received a positive recommendation from the U.S Department of Energy in November, meaning the proposal will move forward as the group seeks federal funds.

A portion of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was planned for states looking to increase hydrogen power development as part of the federal government’s efforts to reduce pollution from U.S. energy sectors.

Tires dumped throughout rural New Mexico

During the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2023, from October to December, NMED said it provided $800,000 to local communities to clean up illegal dumpsites.

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That included 19 projects throughout the state, mostly in rural areas and pueblos in the northern part of the state.

The dumpsites funded through the program mostly saw scrap tires dumped and accumulating in communities, and awards ranged from about $6,000 to the North Central Solid Waste Authority to $240,151 to the City of Socorro which planned to shred them into a rubber mulch used to cover a nearby landfill.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.