SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has released Enforcement Watch updates for the month of May.

The Enforcement Watch is a listing of all active and resolved enforcement cases. Active cases involve an alleged violation of a regulation, rule, permit, license, etc. Resolved cases are those that were adjudicated in court of law or administratively resolved. The Enforcement Watch also provides tools for the public to report alleged environmental or workplace safety violations.

“The Environment Department is taking bold steps to ensure the safety of our food and water across the state,” said NMED Compliance and Enforcement Director Bruce Baizel. “Continued disregard of permit requirements by retail food establishments and municipal water systems will be met with escalating fines and penalties.”

In the month of May, 113 new entries were added to the Active Matters listing and 36 were moved to the Resolved Matters listing.

The new additions to the report included: – 61 notices of violation issued by the Food Safety Program to retail food establishments that failed to timely pay their permit fee which results in the assessment of a $25.00 late fee – 34 notices of violation issued by the Drinking Water Bureau – 6 notices of violation issued by the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau – 5 notices of violation issued by the Air Quality Bureau – 3 notices of violation issued by the Solid Waste Bureau – 2 notices of violation issued by the Ground Water Quality Bureau – 1 notice of violation issued by the Hazardous Waste Bureau – 1 notice of violation issued by the Surface Water Quality Bureau The following enforcement cases were resolved in May: – 18 cases in the Food Safety Program – 13 cases in the Drinking Water Bureau – 3 cases Hazardous Waste Bureau – 1 case in the Air Quality Bureau – 1 case in the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau Highlights of alleged violations and resolved cases in May include:

• The Groundwater Quality Bureau issued a notice of violation to the Town and Country Mobile Home Park in Carlsbad for operating under an expired groundwater discharge permit, in violation of New Mexico Water Quality regulations and the Water Quality Act.

• The Surface Water Quality Bureau issued an Administrative Compliance Order …

… to the City of Santa Fe for violations of New Mexico Water Quality Act and New Mexico Water Quality regulations, and penalties of more than $2.3 million, alleging that Camino Real Wastewater Treatment Plant discharged E. coli and nitrogen into the Santa Fe River in quantities that exceed standards protective of cool water aquatic life and primary contact, and that produce undesirable aquatic life and nuisance species.

• The Air Quality Bureau issued a notice of violation to New Mexico Gas Company, the owner and operator of the Star Lake Compressor Station, for failing to annually inspect equipment and failing to submit an annual emission testing report.

• The Drinking Water Bureau issued a notice of violation to the Village of Tularosa for Consumer Confidence Report Certifications for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 Calendar Years.

• The Drinking Water Bureau issued a notice of violation to the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority for exceeding the arsenic MCL at Industrial Park Arsenic TP during the 2nd quarter of 2024.

• The Food Safety Bureau issued a notice of violation to the Rio Chama Steakhouse for operating without a permit.

• The Hazardous Waste Bureau issued a notice of violation to Union Pacific Railroad for violating New Mexico Hazardous Waste regulations by failing to properly label containers of used oil, failing to keep closed containers of used oil stored outdoors, failure to obtain an EPA Identification Number for the storage of hazardous waste, for storing hazardous waste for greater than 90 days, for failing to perform weekly inspections of hazardous waste storage areas, for failing to provide hazardous waste management training for appropriate personnel and for failing to pay hazardous waste fees.

• The Occupational Safety and Health Bureau issued a notice of violation to American Manufacturing, Inc. for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, including failing to develop a hearing conservation program for employees, for failing to provide a medical evaluation to determine employee compatibility to use respiratory protection, for failing to inform exposed employees of hazardous atmospheric conditions in permit spaces, for exposing employees to a hazardous air contaminant over a permissible exposure limit and for not providing effective information and training on hazardous chemicals to employees.

• The Solid Waste Bureau issued a notice of violation to the SW New Mexico Regional Landfill for violating the New Mexico Solid waste rules by failing to provide proper intermediate cover on areas that have not received waste for 60 days or longer.

The Enforcement Watch provides the public, the business community, environmental nongovernment organizations, and municipal governments with easy access to see which organizations the NMED has alleged are in violation of regulations, permits, and/or licenses administered by the Department. It is updated when violations are alleged or resolved. Retrospective enforcement matters are added as staffing resources allow.

Organizations remain on Enforcement Watch until the alleged violations are corrected to the satisfaction of the Department. The easiest way for an organization to avoid appearing on the Enforcement Watch is to stay off it in the first place by remaining in full compliance with applicable regulations. The NMED encourages organizations that are unclear of their regulatory responsibilities to contact a consultant and conduct a third-party compliance audit and disclose potential violations.

The NMED provides detailed compliance and enforcement metrics in the Compliance Measures section of the Quarterly Performance Report.

The full Enforcement Watch can be viewed at https://www.env.nm.gov/enforcement- watch.