{"id":16243,"date":"2010-04-20T08:40:56","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T14:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=16243"},"modified":"2010-04-21T06:58:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-21T12:58:00","slug":"guv-candidates-share-views-on-helena-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/04\/guv-candidates-share-views-on-helena-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"Guv candidates share views on Helena situation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Helena\u2019s facility in Mesquite.<\/p><\/div>\n

Helena Chemical Co.<\/a> has been in the news lately for winning a civil defamation lawsuit<\/a> against Mesquite activist Arturo Uribe and because of new action<\/a> from the state to push it to comply with environmental regulations.<\/p>\n

Helena has faced a lot of controversy in recent years. The company has been fined nearly half a million dollars by the state for environmental violations, most relating to air quality. And the Uribes and others have filed a negligence lawsuit claiming their health has suffered as a result of the company\u2019s operations in Mesquite.<\/p>\n

Helena maintains the damage to its reputation isn\u2019t deserved and says the ruling in the defamation case is a step toward repairing its name. Uribe promises to appeal, and the state is continuing to put the pressure on Helena.<\/p>\n

With that as the backdrop, I decided to ask the six gubernatorial candidates what they think of the situation. Many of them have talked a lot about government regulation and the business climate in the state, and I figured this was a way to make their talk tangible.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what those who responded had to say. Republican Susana Martinez<\/a> is the only candidate who did not respond.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Doug Turner<\/p><\/div>\n

Doug Turner<\/h3>\n

Republican Doug Turner<\/a> said he spent two days in Mesquite and is familiar with the Helena situation. He said he applauds the awarding of damages to Helena in its case against Uribe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there have been totally inappropriate accusations against the company,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI think that they\u2019re driven by self-serving interests, and the claims that are made, I think, are false and in many cases extremely damaging to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner said he believes the state has \u201cbeen running a witch hunt\u201d against Helena \u2013 a witch hunt he said began around the same time Uribe started speaking out against the company. Turner said companies should have to comply with environmental regulations, but he\u2019s skeptical of the state\u2019s allegations against Helena.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a business that\u2019s been there for a very, very long time,\u201d he said, \u201cand only in the last few years do they start having issues?\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of going after businesses, Turner said, the state must \u201cbecome a partner with businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what will Turner do if he becomes governor and Helena isn\u2019t in compliance with an environmental regulation?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work out a solution as if they\u2019re children and you give them a chance to make it right,\u201d Turner said. \u201cNow if they don\u2019t, of course you have to come back with a heavy hand, but it seems to me there\u2019s a point in this whole thing at which the heavy hand is excessive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner said he hasn\u2019t seen the state working to come up with solutions in the case of Helena.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has just been a continual process of political bullying. It\u2019s awful,\u201d Turner said. \u201cThis happens in many industries in this state. \u2026 It is an unproductive business relationship and that\u2019s got to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Janice Arnold-Jones<\/p><\/div>\n

Janice Arnold-Jones<\/h3>\n

Republican Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a>, on the other hand, said Uribe\u2019s concerns should be taken seriously. As a lawmaker, she dealt with whistleblowers in the housing authority scandal<\/a>, and she said she learned that when citizens are willing to put themselves on the line to speak out, public officials should pay attention.<\/p>\n

That means Arnold-Jones doesn\u2019t doubt there\u2019s a problem in Mesquite. What\u2019s not clear to her is whether the problem is Helena or the state environment department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt (Uribe) sees a problem. I have no doubt,\u201d Arnold-Jones said. \u201cHe\u2019s assigning the problem to Helena. Is that correct? I don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As governor, Arnold-Jones said she would investigate two questions in this situation: Is Helena engaging in dialogue with the surrounding community? If it\u2019s not, she said it should. The second question is whether there really are health issues and, if so, what the environment and health departments are doing to identify the source of the illness and deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I do not live in Mesquite, I do not have a satisfactory amount of information to lay blame or discount either party,\u201d Arnold-Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do know is that when community members are willing to take an issue to court at their own risk, there is a problem,\u201d Arnold-Jones said. \u201cWhether the problem is solely Helena Chemical is not apparent.\u00a0This is the time for the State of New Mexico to step in to clearly identify and define the problems and establish methods and timelines for solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Diane Denish<\/p><\/div>\n

Diane Denish<\/h3>\n

Democrat Diane Denish<\/a> would not comment on Helena\u2019s case against Uribe because Uribe plans to appeal. Her campaign did release a statement that said Denish \u201chas a record of standing up for regular New Mexicans against powerful interests, and that will continue if she is elected governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDiane supports reasonable environmental regulations \u2013 especially to force accountability and compliance among companies that have a history of violations,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelena has a history of repeated violations and needs to be held accountable for them,\u201d the campaign said. \u201cEnvironmental regulations must have teeth to ensure companies with repeated violations face real consequences for violating clean-air standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most recent legislative session, Diane voiced her support for the Air Quality Control Permit Denial bill, which would allow regulators to take strong action against companies with repeated and egregious violations of air-quality standards,\u201d the campaign said.<\/p>\n

The legislation did not pass.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Pete Domenici Jr.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pete Domenici Jr.<\/h3>\n

Republican Pete Domenici Jr.<\/a> wrote in an e-mail he wouldn\u2019t comment on the Helena matter because it\u2019s ongoing, but he did provide general comments related to the \u201cnumber of bureaus\u201d that \u201cregulate many environmental areas\u201d in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience, the impact of the statutes, regulations and penalty policies of these bureaus impact the industry segments and particular businesses within those segments throughout the State of New Mexico,\u201d Domenici wrote. \u201cThe penalty policies for various bureaus allow for imposition of fines through compliance orders. The initial fines in many compliance orders can be very large.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on my experience, the level of fines can be detrimental to resolving the environmental problem, and end up forcing parties into adversarial roles,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn addition, the use of large fines and associated press releases can be targeted against specific industries or businesses in ways that are also non-productive to identifying, quantifying and resolving the environmental issue at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such action, Domenici wrote, \u201cfits within the type of regulatory activity that needs to be changed in order to be able to successfully grow existing business and attract new business to New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Allen Weh<\/p><\/div>\n

Allen Weh<\/h3>\n

Republican Allen Weh<\/a> said the current administration \u201cis notorious for using environmental regulations to thwart business growth across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if this were one more example of that,\u201d Weh said of the Helena situation in a statement released by his campaign. \u201cAs governor, I\u2019ll insist that we pursue commonsense policies that protect the environment we love while also promoting a thriving economy that is business friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Helena Chemical Co. has faced a lot of controversy in recent years. NMPolitics.net asked the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor what they think of the situation, as a way to make their talk about government regulation and the state\u2019s business climate tangible. Here\u2019s what they had to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,147,107],"class_list":["post-16243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-environment","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}