Helena’s facility in Mesquite.
The Environmental Improvement Board ruled today that Helena Chemical Company’s facility in Mesquite must continue to maintain an air quality permit.
The vote was 4-1 in favor of upholding the Environment Department’s decision to require Helena to maintain the permit.
“Helena has been inattentive to environmental laws and disrespectful of its neighbors,” Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said in a news release. “The EIB’s decision, affirming that Helena should be subject to air quality protections through a state permit, is the right decision for the environment and the residents of Mesquite.”
A spokesperson for Helena could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Sierra Club applauded the EIB’s ruling.
“After years of putting the health, safety and welfare of New Mexicans at risk, the EIB ruling today will help ensure that Helena Chemical is a good corporate neighbor,” Michael B. Casaus, Sierra Club senior field organizing manager, said in a news release. “We are extremely pleased that the EIB ruled to protect the quality of life for families in Mesquite.”
Helena’s operations have been controversial in recent years. The state has fined the company nearly half a million dollars for environmental violations, most relating to air quality at its Mesquite facility.
On the flip side, the state has had to pay Helena $23,500 to settle public records violations.
Earlier this year, Helena argued on this site that it didn’t need an air quality permit because “our warehouse in Mesquite has never produced emissions at a level that require one.” The company accused the state of treating it unfairly.
The Environment Department responded by saying that Helena “releases from its facility air pollutant emissions in such a volume that the state has determined that a permit is required to protect the health of residents and the environment.”
In today’s news release from the Sierra Club, Mesquite community activist Arturo Uribe, who is locked in his own fight with Helena, said cancelling the air quality permit “would have ignored our community’s concerns about the impact of Helena Chemical’s operation on Mesquite ’s quality of life. We’re glad that the EIB took a stand to protect our families.”