Commission Agrees to Hear Dairy Industry’s Petition to Weaken Groundwater Protections

Chris HuntFeatured, Press Release

SANTA FE, N.M. ” Today, The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) voted to set a March 2014 meeting to hear the dairy industry’s petition to substantially weaken groundwater discharge rules. The WQCC endorsed the New Mexico Environment Department conducting a stakeholder advisory process on the changes to the rules prior to the March hearing. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) with support and assistance from Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP) represents clients, the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club and Amigos Bravos, who are opposed to the changes.”Our clients are cautiously optimistic about that the Environment Department’s decision to advocate for conducting a stakeholder advisory process,” says Jon Block, NMELC Staff Attorney. “Now it’s at least possible to work toward changes to the regulations so that our scarce and precious water resources will be protected from pollution by these mega-dairies