A day after a jury ordered a Mesquite activist to pay Helena Chemical Company $75,000 for harming its reputation with claims that the company’s pollution had led to health problems in the community, the New Mexico Environment Department is announcing that it has issued a new notice of violation to Helena for “failing to correct deficiencies in its groundwater cleanup plan.”
In January 2005 the department required Helena to clean up groundwater contamination at its Mesquite facility because contaminants there exceed state groundwater quality standards for nitrate, sulfate, fluoride, chloride and total dissolved solids, according to a news release from the environment department.
The problem? Helena, according to the release, has failed to submit a required plan to monitor all of those except nitrates to ensure the contamination doesn’t continue.
“We are disappointed in Helena’s refusal to monitor groundwater contaminants underneath its facility that exceed water quality standards,” Environment Department Water and Waste Management Division Director Marcy Leavitt said in the release.
“The company… must immediately address this issue to protect groundwater underneath and around the Helena facility and to meet its responsibilities to the surrounding community,” Leavitt said.
Helena has 30 days to submit the plan. Though it wasn’t announced until today, the notice of violation was issued March 31, the release states.
Helena could face additional fines if it doesn’t comply. The company has already been fined almost half a million dollars in recent years for environmental violations, most relating to air quality.
Update, 9:45 p.m.
Helena provided me with a second March 31 letter that the environment department failed to mention in today’s news release. In that second letter, the environment department informed Helena that was denying the company’s request to operate without an air quality permit. Helena had argued that one was no longer necessary.
In addition, Helena provided this response to both the denial of the request to operate without an air quality permit and the notice of violation related to the groundwater cleanup issue, from Louis Rodrigue, vice president of Helena’s southern business unit:
“In September 2008, Helena submitted a Notice of Intent application, asking NMED for approval to operate without an air quality permit. NMED did not respond until March 31, 2010. Helena will appeal NMED’s decision. Helena’s air quality permit only regulates dust, and air modeling data indicates Helena does not exceed dust emission thresholds. NMED monitored the air quality across the street from Helena’s Mesquite warehouse for four years and three months – from 2005 to 2009. NMED’s air monitoring data revealed the air quality in Mesquite is good according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Standards.
“On March 31, 2010, NMED also issued a Notice of Deficiency to Helena regarding its abatement plan. Shallow groundwater monitoring revealed elevated levels of fluoride, chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS). NMED agrees that none of these substances are components of fertilizer or any other products that Helena carries. As a result, in December 2009, Helena proposed to NMED to cease monitoring for these substances. NMED did not respond. Instead, on March 31, 2010, NMED issued a Notice of Deficiency. Notably, Helena never ceased monitoring for these substances.
“The timing of NMED’s decisions and press releases coincided with Helena ’s defamation trial against Arturo Uribe. NMED had Helena’s Notice of Intent Application since September 2008 and Helena’s request to cease monitoring for fluoride, chloride and TDSsince December 2009.”