New Mexico Environment Department

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will be holding a rapid hiring event next Saturday September 23, 2023 hoping to fill over 40 positions. This comes after the department has rallied for months for more money to hire staff and now has a new mandate to test wastewater at schools.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s database for alleged violations logged about 200 entries related to clean water last month. About 40% of the notices went to one organization, and a small water association was referred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over continued violations.

The database tracks violations and department enforcement, and is open to the public.

New Mexico’s top environment official says the federal government is going to move forward with addressing high levels of ozone in parts of the Permian Basin by the end of this year, ramping up air quality regulations in the highly productive and profitable oil and gas region. The state is ill-equipped to take on the additional work, according to State Environment Secretary James Kenney, which could mean losing its permitting power to the U.S. government.

As a top oil and gas producer, New Mexico has some of the strictest emissions rules in the country. That includes a state Environment Department rule that went into effect last year that aims to reduce ozone-causing air pollution by 260 million pounds a year. However, Environment Secretary James Kenney says the agency is falling short on enforcing the rules and is asking the Legislature to help change that.

The state of New Mexico and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have launched a new task force to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes in the state. These can range from dumping oil and hazardous waste to falsifying records.

Since 2020 the state has allowed oil and gas producers to temporarily stop running pumps because the pandemic economy was particularly bad for business. But despite the rebound in oil prices, there are still more than 1,000 wells sitting idle.

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney told the legislature’s Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee meeting in Clovis Friday that there is no practical safe level of PFAS in drinking water. It’s a hazardous substance used in firefighting, household products, and even clothing.

A new Rain Garden in downtown Santa Fe will divert storm runoff from East Alameda Street into a series of tiered pools between the sidewalk and the Santa Fe River where it will slow down, get filtered, and soak in before flowing into the river.

Restaurants in New Mexico are back where they were for a few days in late May, with limited outdoor seating, but no indoor dining allowed. New Mexico…