Cleanup Plan Ordered ; RR May Face State Fines If Pond Directive Unmet

By ROSALIE RAYBURN Journal Staff Writer

Rio Rancho city staffers have 10 days to produce a cleanup plan for the ponds at Chamisa Hills Golf and Country Club or face potential fines of up to $30,000 a day.

That’s the ultimatum the state Environment Department handed Rio Rancho’s top staffers at a meeting Thursday in Albuquerque.

The plan must show how the city will correct water-related problems previously linked with waterfowl deaths at the ponds on the Rio Rancho golf course.

“It’s an impossible timeframe,” said the District 3 City Councilor Delma Petrullo, whose district includes most of Chamisa Hills.

Petrullo, who attended the meeting, said the cleanup would be a “fiduciary nightmare” for Rio Rancho. She blamed the pond problems on the private company that owns the golf course.

The state Environment Department disagrees. Its position is that the city is responsible for the cleanup because it holds the permit that allows Chamisa Hills to use treated city waste water for irrigation.

Once the cleanup work is completed, the Environment Department plans to issue a new permit to Chamisa Hills, which will then assume responsibility for the water it uses.

“That’s the most equitable way to split the baby,” Deputy Environment Department Secretary Jon Goldstein said at the meeting.

Although aware of the state Environment Department’s stance, City Manager Jim Payne and City Attorney Jim Babin came to the meeting hoping for a discussion on the Chamisa Hills situation.

“We do not feel the city has violated the permit,” Payne said.

Goldstein said the purpose of the meeting was not to negotiate a settlement. He issued the city a notice of violation. The notice stated two violations. One says the city failed to inspect and ensure proper maintenance of ponds at Chamisa Hills.

The second violation says the city discharges reclaimed waste water into ponds not named by its permit from the Environment Department.

The notice requires the city to submit a corrective plan by Jan. 28.

“We don’t feel your position is supportable,” Payne told Goldstein.

He called for further stafflevel discussions between the city and the Environment Department, which could address the question of the financial burden of the cleanup.

Payne suggested it might no longer be prudent for the city to supply water to Chamisa Hills.

If the city doesn’t meet the deadline, the next step would be a Compliance Order, which can carry fines of up to $15,000 per day per violation. The amount of the fine is up to the department, Goldstein told the Journal after the meeting.

The Environment Department became involved with the Chamisa Hills situation after residents who live near the ponds found dead waterfowl in the summer of 2006. Tests confirmed the birds died of avian botulism, a bacteria that thrives in pond sediment or anaerobic water.

Golf club owner Harry Apodaca claims the city should be held responsible. The botulism outbreak occurred after a city water pump failed, reducing water levels at the ponds and promoting conditions for the bacteria, Apodaca told the Journal after the meeting.

Payne said city staff who have worked with Chamisa Hills couldn’t recall a water pump failure but he couldn’t confirm or deny the allegations without further research.

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