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Santa Fe County Courthouse Update

Santa Fe – July 27, 2010 – Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners voted to approve changes to four Santa Fe County expenditures related to the new First Judicial Courthouse Project. The project, which has been delayed due to site clean up from gas contamination, is expected to be complete in October 2012. Despite delays, the project is still within the original budget range of $60 million. To date remediation includes the excavation of approximately 20,000 tons of contaminated soil and 10,000 -15,000 gallons of gasoline.

County Commission Chair, Harry Montoya said, “The increases address site clean-up and it is important for residents to understand the importance of cleaning the site for the environment and community. Santa Fe County inherited the contamination and the board’s primary concern has always been clean-up.”

The approved amendments are as follows:

Intera (Environmental Consultant) $335,454.97: Funds will primarily be used for the coordination, implementation and reporting requirements to the various regulatory agencies that interact with the County on the courthouse site clean-up.

Bradbury Stamm (General Contractor) $867,831.17: Funds will primarily be used for the removal of contaminated soil and associated costs related to the environmental conditions encountered on the site.

Souder Miller (Water Treatment Contractor) $541,243.66: Funds will primarily be used for treatment of the contaminated ground water at the courthouse site.

Gerald Martin (Construction Manager) $631,490.06: Funds will be used to address increased time and services required to address the environmental conditions encountered at the site and allow for continued work through project completion.

“The additional services from these contractors will allow for the County to complete the environmental clean-up and remediation which benefits the community by removing an adverse environmental situation. The additional work will allow the courthouse project to be completed in a safe and timely fashion, given the situation we have encountered,” stated Joseph Gutierrez, Community Services Director.

Santa Fe County continues to coordinate with the New Mexico Environment Department on clean-up efforts for safe remediation. The Board of County Commissioners would like to thank the community for their patience and understanding in this matter.