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County Applied for Permit to Facilitate Courthouse Clean Up

Santa Fe – December 30, 2009 – As part of the ongoing environmental remediation work at the site of the new Steve Herrera Courthouse, the County has applied to the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) for a discharge permit to accompany a permit the County already obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), called an “NPES permit.”

The existing federal permit and State permit will allow the County to dewater the courthouse site then excavate and remove the contaminated soil, and prevent contaminated water from subsequently flooding the construction site after the contaminated soil is removed. The petroleum-contaminated water, once removed, will be treated on-site at a temporary water treatment plant according to standards established by the NMED and EPA. Once the water is clean, it will be discharged into the Santa Fe River and tested daily to ensure that the treatment plant is working according to specifications. The NMED and the EPA will supervise the entire water treatment operation.

The discharges from the treatment plant are expected to continue for about nine months until the lower levels of the building are completed. The public may or may not notice the releases, which will be a trickle some days and may not be present at all on other days.

Persons interested in the application and the approval process can contact John Rebar Jr., DP-1747, Ground Water Quality Bureau, NMED, P.O. Box 5469, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 875602 or call 505-827-2900.