Update on ALL THREE lawsuits
First and foremost - the struggle to keep Roper Constructions proposed Concrete Batch Plant out of the 220 Corridor, also known as the Billy the Kid Scenic Byway, is not over. While it is true the New Mexico Environmental Department recommended the permit be denied, and the Department of the Interior signed a formal "final order denying the petition, Roper has appealed the matter to the Environmental Improvement Board. That hearing is scheduled for October 18-20. Once again, just as they were in the initial hearing before NMED, our voices must be heard. You can be heard simply by signing the petition now to stop the batch plant; … see link below.
Why should you care?
1. Your health! Even if Roper meets the air pollution standards required, and our experts say he is not even close, his plant will pose a very real health risk not just to his immediate neighbors, but to anyone within the toxic plume the plant will emit. Here’s what a permit allows him to legally emit annually (taken from the permit application):
a. 95 tons of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
b. 95 tons of Carbon Monoxide (CO)
c. 95 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
d. 95 tons of Total Suspended Particulate (TSP)
e. 95 tons of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
f. 23 tons of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)
2. Your Property Values:
a. Properties in the immediate vicinity will be devalued by up to 50% or more. That alone will put downward pressure on local property value.
b. Potential buyers don’t move here to breathe toxic air.
3. Water:
a. Roper currently has no water rights, but if he were to secure those the amount of water required to mix concrete alone would impact the water table;
b. Add to that the acre feet of water he’ll need to consume to remediate air pollution and the water demands would be sufficient, in our opinion, to threaten the water table our golf course relies upon;
3. Traffic
a. The plant will operate 18 hours a day, 6 days a week;
b. Anticipated truck traffic will average 305 trips per day;
c. IF Roper doesn’t secure water rights, add another _____ trips per day to deliver water to the plant, both for air pollution remediation and to prepare mix loads.
Prominent Voices in opposition:
1. Ruidoso / Lincoln County Association of REALTORS Read their open letter here
2. Tom Stewart, Commissioner representing the Alto region.
What can you do?
a. Sign the petition to let EIB know you oppose the permit
b. Submit a letter online directly to the EIB here
c. Donate to AltoCEP to help us defray the $500,000 in attorney and expert witness fees we still owe.
d. Keep track of our progress. Stay up to date on the results of the EIB hearing and the two other lawsuits currently pending
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