Gold King Mine settlement funds so far not spent on affected farmers, lawmaker says - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
State agencies will soon accept bids to spend millions in settlement money from a contaminant spill that turned northern New Mexico rivers yellow in 2015, but two state lawmakers expressed concerns that the money won’t reach people who need it most.
It’s still early in the process for millions in settlement funds to be paid to those affected by the Gold King Mine spill that happened in August 2015.
Contractors for the Environmental Protection Agency were monitoring seepage in the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. They accidentally released 3 millions gallons of waste like cadmium, lead and arsenic into a tributary of the Animas River.
The water is now safe for agricultural or recreational use, state officials say, but state leaders say a stigma remains that continues to hurt farmers and tourism in the area..
Since the spill, tribal and state leaders in Colorado and New Mexico brought several lawsuits seeking compensation from the mine owners, the federal contractors and the EPA.
In June, state leaders gathered in Farmington to announce a $32 million settlement with the EPA, of which $10 million will be for restoration of natural resources.
That $10 million, given to the National Resource Trustee, can only be given to nonprofits or governments due to the state’s anti-donation clause, state officials have said.
Separately, the Navajo Nation settled its Gold King Mine spill lawsuit against the federal government for $31 million.
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office will soon issue a request for proposals for $4 million it received from an $11 million settlement it reached with the mining companies that initially left the tailings in the Silverton mountain. That money can be awarded to nonprofits or government agencies.
On Monday, the Indian Affairs Committee of the New Mexico legislature heard an update on the settlement and lawsuits. Cholla Khoury, chief deputy attorney general for civil affairs, told lawmakers that the agency would accept bids in about a month.
Rep. Anthony Allison (D-Fruitland) said he hears frequently from farmers who say they are still encountering fallout from the spill, even potentially seeing yellow flakes swirling in eddies along irrigation ditches.
“They just want to know why the rest of New Mexico or the rest of the Navajo Nation is benefiting while they, the direct victims, are still waiting for some kind of word that they’re going to get compensated,” Allison said.
Rep. Linda Garcia Benavidez (D-Albuquerque) echoed Allison’s concerns and asked how much input from the affected community went into the bid proposals the AG’s office will soon issue. Khoury had no immediate answer, but she did say the AG’s office was doing its best within the law to make sure the $4 million goes to where it’s most needed.
The money could go to help governments or nonprofits rebuild the pre-spill economy, do soil and water tests or help restore faith in the agriculture that relies on the rivers.
“That’s what we are attempting to do is to get every penny that we have, and that we can, back into the community to that they can start rebuilding from that damage,” she said.
The AG’s office is pursuing another lawsuit against the EPA contractors who caused the spill, which could mean even more settlement money for the state. That litigation might soon end up in court, Khoury said.
Two hot air balloons crash during Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Two hot air balloons crashed in Albuquerque today as the International Balloon Fiesta continues through this weekend.
The Albuquerque Journal reports the two crashes were unrelated, but both occurred on the city’s West Side.
One person in each crash, an adult and a child, sustained minor injuries, according to New Mexico State Police spokesperson Mark Soriano.
Soriano said an adult, who was one of two passengers in her balloon, was injured in a crash off Golf Course Rd. near the Lovelace Westside Hospital. The Journal reports EMTs could be seen loading a passenger into an ambulance at the site of the crash this morning.
A child, who was one of three passengers in their gandala, was hurt when their balloon had a hard landing in the bosque off Paseo.
A spokesman for the Balloon Fiesta, said that hard landing was not the only one in the city today.
FEMA individual assistance application period to close this week unless extended again - By Megan Gleason, Source New Mexico
UPDATE, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022: FEMA extended its deadline for people to apply for individual assistance to Nov. 7. This is only for Lincoln, Mora and San Miguel Counties.
People with damaged property or homes following the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire and flooding disasters have until Friday, Oct. 7 to apply for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, unless the deadline is extended again. Other federal help meant to more fully compensate people is also on the way.
Residents who don’t have insurance or are under-insured have until midnight on that day to apply. However, FEMA spokesperson Angela Byrd said another deadline extension is anticipated, though it hasn’t been officially confirmed.
“It may get extended again, which means that it’s important to push people to register,” she said.
Last month, FEMA announced at the last moment that the Sept. 6 application deadline would be extended into October. If it’s pushed again, the application will be open for another month, Byrd said.
As of Monday, Oct. 3, FEMA had approved 1,302 applicants and allocated more than $5.4 million, Byrd said. She declined to say how many denials there have been due to the factors that go into them, such as missing application documentation, FEMA waiting on inspection information or insurance already covering assistance.
Applicants that have been denied have 60 days after the date of the determination letter to appeal the decision, even after the application deadline passes.
“If they’re denied, they’re not quite denied,” Byrd said. “So it could be a number of reasons that they could still get their application approved.”
Applicants can receive up to $39,700, and appeal if they feel they didn’t get as much as they should have under that cap.
MORE FEDERAL AID TO COME
President Joe Biden signed into law on Friday a spending package that included the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act with $2.5 billion in relief funds. This move is meant to fully compensate people and businesses, and there’s no max on how much money an individual or business can receive.
It’s FEMA’s job to distribute this money to anyone with personal injuries and to those who suffered business, income or financial losses from the wildfire and flooding that followed. Congress members have been on the ground this week in northern New Mexico meeting with the agency to discuss ongoing and future work.
FEMA must release the final regulations for the processing and payment of claims no later than Monday, Nov. 14, U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) said. The agency is also working to establish the Office of Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Claims in New Mexico.
Work has been ongoing for the last several months to get operations started as quickly as possible, according to a staffer in Leger Fernández’s office. FEMA has already designated a senior executive service employee to oversee the office and is getting staff assigned.
Leger Fernández in an email late Wednesday said FEMA plans to hire local personnel, too.
People should be able to start filing claims once the office is set up, though there is not a set timeline yet. A Government Accountability Office report said it may take many months until money actually is in the hands of the community members, according to Leger Fernández’s office, though the representative said in a statement that she’s hopeful first claims can be processed before the new year.
Leger Fernández told Source New Mexico that she and other officials have asked FEMA to streamline this process and have a navigator or claims assistant at the office for help and technical assistance. FEMA committed to having at least two permanent offices in northern New Mexico and a couple of mobile units that can travel and provide assistance for several years, too, she said.
“When I introduced this legislation, our lands, forests, and the homes of our gente were burning, they needed resources then, and they still do now. I will continue to work with FEMA so that they receive public input on the implementation of my legislation,” Leger Fernández said.
Many people have voiced frustration at FEMA following denials for individual assistance — some of which were incorrect — and delays in getting help. So now, the agency is getting feedback from officials and the public on what they can do better this time around and wants to make the process smoother and more efficient, according to Leger Fernández’s office. The representative said there will be public meetings for people to give input to FEMA.
The fire tore across Northern New Mexico over the summer after the U.S. Forest Service lit the two prescribed burns that merged into one and got out of control, leading to the largest fire in New Mexico’s history and destructive flooding that’s still happening. U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a sponsor of the wildfire legislation, said in a statement that Congress made it clear “that the federal government has a moral obligation to do right by New Mexicans” through this money.
“Thanks to the dedication of the New Mexico Delegation, the passage of my Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act means more opportunities for New Mexicans and small businesses,” Luján said, “who have struggled to rebuild in the months following the fire.”
Hope for good weather as Balloon Fiesta enters final days – Associated Press
As the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta flies into its final weekend, organizers are hoping there will be no more cancellations due to weather.
The hot air balloon festival, now in its 50th year, has seen balloons grounded four out of eight sessions since it opened Oct. 1. Visitors with tickets for those days are out of luck when it comes to refunds.
Paul Smith, the Balloon Fiesta's executive director, told KOAT-TV that officials emphasize the whole event hinges on the weather. Being a non-profit corporation, they cannot give refunds.
Rain checks can be issued for that same week. But typically not beyond that.
One couple from Aberdeen, Scotland lamented that there was a cancelation this week on the one day they had in Albuquerque. However, Laura Clark and Stuart Russell say they will try again next year.
Smith says visitors can call the main office and explain their circumstances to see about getting a rain check for next year.
"We try to make it affordable for everyone," he said.
As one of the most photographed events in the world, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has become an economic driver for the state's largest city and a rare — and colorful — opportunity for enthusiasts to be within arm's reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated.
Families separated at border push back on new evaluations - By Lindsay Whitehurst Associated Press
Parents suing after being separated from their children at the U.S-Mexico border are pushing back against a Justice Department effort to require additional psychological evaluations to measure how much the U.S. policy traumatized them, court documents show.
The effect of the Trump-era policy that was maligned as inhumane by political and religious leaders worldwide has been unusually well-documented, and it's unfair to require parents to undergo another round of testing now, attorneys argue in court documents filed Thursday.
One woman testified about sobbing as her 7-year-old daughter was taken from her for what turned out to be more than two months, court documents show. Thousands of children were separated from their parents; some have still not been reunited.
The migrants seeking compensation have already undergone other evaluations, but the Justice Department said last month that testing from a government-chosen expert is necessary since the parents are alleging permanent mental and emotional injuries.
Psychological evaluations from both sides are routine in emotional-damages claims, but the parents' lawyers say the government has dragged out the process, adding that testing would be emotionally and logistically fraught, including taking off work and find childcare on low-wage salaries.
The effects of the family separations have been thoroughly explored, including by government investigators who found children separated from their parents showed more fear, feelings of abandonment and post-traumatic stress symptoms. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said during his campaign that the policies were "an outrage, a moral failing and a stain on our national character."
Former President Donald Trump stopped the practice in June 2018 amid widespread condemnation, just days before a judge ordered an end to the program in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Parents studied by Physicians for Human Rights, a nonprofit collective of doctors that works to document human rights violations, exhibited suicidal thoughts and suffered a raft of problems including nightmares, depression, anxiety, panic, worry and difficulty sleeping.
The Justice Department isn't asking for the children to be re-evaluated now, but is reserving the right to do so later if necessary. A judge will eventually decide, possibly within weeks, whether to require the new evaluations.
The requests came in two cases filed by 11 families. Nearly two dozen similar cases are pending in other courts, and some have already submitted to government-requested psychiatric evaluations. In one southern Florida case, a father and child agreed to the same examination, one that federal attorneys say is well within what's considered appropriate.
There is a separate legal effort to reunite other families, and there are still hundreds who have not been brought back together. The Biden administration has formed a task force that has reunited roughly 600 families.
The two sides had been negotiating a settlement, but talks broke down after early proposal of $450,000 per person was reported and heavily criticized by Republicans.
Trump's "zero tolerance" policy meant that any adult caught crossing the border illegally would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Because children cannot be jailed with their family members, families were separated and children were taken into custody by Health and Human Services, which manages unaccompanied children at the border. No system was created to reunite children with their families.
California agencies float Colorado River water cuts proposal - By Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press
California water agencies that rely on the parched Colorado River said Wednesday they can reduce their use by one-tenth starting in 2023 in response to calls for cuts from the federal government.
The agencies, which supply water to farmers and millions of people in Southern California, laid out their proposal in a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior. It comes as drought exacerbated by climate change continues to diminish the river, and months after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation first called on users to voluntarily limit their reliance on it.
California shares the river's water with six other states, tribes and Mexico. It has rights to the single largest share and is the last to lose water in times of shortage.
The proposal to cut 400,000 acre feet annually marks the first time California water agencies are publicly and formally indicating what they're willing to give up since federal officials demanded major cuts this summer. California has been under pressure from other states to figure out how to use less as river reservoirs drop so low they risk losing the ability to generate hydropower and deliver water.
"While a broad multi-state agreement to conserve water across the Basin has not been reached, the California agencies propose to take voluntary action now to conserve water in coming months," the California agencies wrote.
An acre-foot of water is enough to supply about two households for a year. California is entitled to 4.4 million acre feet of Colorado River water each year.
Four California agencies use the river's water: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Palo Verde Irrigation District and the Coachella Valley Water District.
The proposed cuts are contingent on the water agencies getting money from the $4 billion in drought relief included in the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as a commitment by the federal government to help clean up the Salton Sea, a drying lake fed by diminishing runoff from Imperial Valley farms.
The letter was scant on details. The agencies said they have "a collection of proposed water conservation and water use reduction opportunities" that would help keep more water in Lake Mead, one of the river's key reservoirs.
It did not list any specific projects, or specify the rate of payment the agencies are expecting. But the federal government has previously said the $4 billion could be used for short-term conservation measures, like paying farmers to leave their fields unplanted, and long-term efficiency projects such as lining canals to prevent water loss.
The Imperial Irrigation District receives a larger share of the river than any other entity. It's the only source of water for crops in California's southeastern desert, where many of the nation's winter vegetables, like broccoli, as well as feed crops like alfalfa are grown.
The district is willing to contribute up to 250,000 of the acre-feet committed by California, General Manager Henry Martinez said in a statement.
Farmers in the valley are already planning out their crops for next year. The longer it takes to reach a final deal, the more money farmers could expect as compensation for leaving their fields unplanted, said JB Hamby, a member of the district's board.
"If you want more participation, the prices will need to be higher," he said.
The Metropolitan Water District relies on the Colorado River to provide a third of Southern California's urban water supply. In a statement, General Manager Adel Hagekhalil didn't commit to a specific conservation number but said the district will work with its users and board to figure out a reasonable amount.
The Interior Department did not have a comment on the letter, spokesman Tyler Cherry said.
All eyes have been on California to offer cuts. Both Arizona and Nevada were told in August they'd get less water under earlier drought agreements.
Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, declined to comment specifically on California's letter. But he said earlier Wednesday that Arizona cannot be expected to contribute more than California, considering it stands to lose more under mandatory cuts because of the existing priority structure.
"We want more equitable guidelines, it's not gallon per gallon," he said.
The Salton Sea formed in 1905, when the Colorado River overflowed, and was once considered a destination. But the lake has been drying up in recent decades, exposing residents to harmful dust and hurting ecosystems.
In 2019, when the Lower Basin states negotiated a drought plan, the irrigation district refused to sign on because it didn't come with money for the sea.
California's letter said any conservation efforts would require a commitment by the federal government to help stabilize the sea.
New Mexico governor seeks FBI reinforcements amid crime - Associated Press
The Democratic governor of New Mexico has asked the federal Department of Justice to assign more FBI agents to the state in response to violent crime.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday in a statement that she wants to replicate the success of a recent surge in FBI resources and agents in Buffalo, New York.
The Sept. 15 letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland describes a recent spate of homicides in Albuquerque and says "additional federal agents are needed to alleviate the current strain on New Mexico's law enforcement offices." Lujan Grisham sent a similar request in June to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said the governor's office did not receive a response from the Department of Justice as of Wednesday evening.
Concerns about crime are a prominent theme in the race for governor ahead of the Nov. 8 general election as Lujan Grisham seeks a second term in office. Republican nominee and former television meteorologist Ronchetti has painted a dire portrait of public safety conditions, railing against the state's bail system and vowing a different approach to judicial appointments.
Lujan Grisham is touting recent state investments in crime-reduction grants, a bump in pay for state police and new spending on local police recruitment and job retention — but says more is needed.