NMED News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Tuesday released Enforcement Watch updates for the month of December 2024. 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.

“Our enforcement efforts across the state have a direct impact on New Mexicans, preventing them from drinking unsafe water, breathing dirty air, and falling victim to unsafe work environments” said Bruce Baizel, NMED Compliance and Enforcement Director. “Keeping on track with recent months, NMED has cracked down on uncompliant drinking water systems in particular, with dozens more violations issued in December.”

In December, 128 new entries were added to the Active Matters listing and 83 were moved to the Resolved Matters listing.  

New additions to the report included:

• 53 notices of violation issued by the Drinking Water Bureau  
• 49 notices of violation issued by the Food Safety Program to retail food establishments that failed to timely pay their permit fee, resulting in a $25 late fee  
• 17 notices of violation issued by the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau
• 7 notices of violation issued by the Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau
• 2 notices of violation issued by the Air Quality Bureau

 The following enforcement cases were resolved in December: 

• 67 cases in the Food Safety Program
• 7 cases in the Drinking Water Bureau
• 4 cases in the Hazardous Waste Bureau
• 3 cases in the Solid 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 December include: 

• The Air Quality Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to DCP Operating Company, LP, of Houston, for excess emissions, failure to keep records, failure to perform monthly inspections and other violations of state and federal air quality regulations at the Burton Flats Booster Station, near Carlsbad.

• The Drinking Water Bureau issued a Notice of Violation Hobbs County Club in Hobbs for failing to take the required number of monthly microbiological samples under its sampling plan, in violation of New Mexico drinking water regulations.

• The Food Safety Program issued a Notice of Violation to McDonalds in Silver City for operating without a valid permit.

• The Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to Love Travel Stops and Country Stores, Inc. in Tucumcari for failure to replace a sensor associated with the automatic alarm and shut-off system, failure to replace a defective leak detection device and other violations of New Mexico Petroleum Storage Tank regulations.

• The Occupational Safety and Health Bureau issued a citation and Notice of Penalty to LightWave Solar Electric, LLC’s facility in Kirtland for not providing sufficient training and protective gear to employees working around high voltage electric arcs, in violation of the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Enforcement Watch provides the public, the business community, environmental nongovernment organizations, and municipal governments with easy access to see which organizations 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. 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.

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.