Sunland Park residents further frustrated after Friday town hall

Nearly 40 residents crammed into the Sunland Park City Council Chambers Friday April 5, 2024, for a town hall with a presentation from Juan Carlos Crosby, the interim director for Camino Real Regional Utility Authority. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)

SUNLAND PARK – People concerned about contaminated water coming from the taps in their homes and businesses were cut off by the interim director of the water utility, when he abruptly left a meeting through a back door.

Nearly 40 people packed themselves into the Sunland Park council chambers, with more than a dozen standing in the foyer to hear from the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority. Sunland Park officials announced the meeting April 4, and wrote in the notice that it did not meet the New Mexico Open Meetings Act definition of a “public meeting.”

The meeting turned confrontational as the water utility’s presentation did not address concerns from the residents living in Santa Teresa and Sunland Park.

Camino Real Regional Utility Authority is facing state fines and further probes over the quality of the drinking water provided to those communities. State environment officials found in December that the utility sent people water with “high levels of arsenic” that violated federal safety standards, potentially for more than a year.

At Friday’s meeting, Sunland Park resident Teresa Rodriguez brought a jar of yellow water, which she said came from her taps two weeks ago, and set it before the lectern the officials spoke behind.

She showed Source New Mexico videos of water from her hose appearing yellow-brown, as well as from a bathroom sink full of yellow-brown water. Both were taken on March 25, according to the video’s metadata.

Utility officials said at the meeting that they’re working to fix the issues, and pointed to a checklist on their website documenting their response to more than half of the 58 systemic issues laid out by the state in a 132-page report .

Officials told Source NM after the meeting that it was only scheduled for an hour. Crosby left around 6:20 p.m., cutting the meeting just under 90 minutes. As he exited, the crowd shouted in English, “The meeting is not over, are you trying to leave, are you done with the meeting?”

“I’m not surprised this is how the meeting went, but it’s entirely infuriating,” said Daisy Maldonado, who has organized in the community at the nonprofit Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County.

Arsenic in water

Arsenic occurs at higher rates in southern Doña Ana County due to a mix of geology and industry, according to Camino Real Regional Utility Authority consumer confidence reports .

There is no safe level of exposure to inorganic arsenic — the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health-based goal is 0 micrograms per liter. However, the regulatory goal set by the federal government is a limit of 10 parts per billion in public water systems.

Drinking water with low levels of arsenic over years is associated with diseases such as diabetes. It increases risk of cancers, heart and lung diseases and additional skin problems, according to the EPA .

The New Mexico Environment Department announced at the end of March, that in a surprise sampling, one of the 10 samples taken of the utility’s water violated federal arsenic standards on March 26, contradicting the checklist that CRRUA published.

The public’s next opportunity for an update on the water issue will be this week at the Doña Ana County Commission. Crosby is expected to give a presentation at the April 9 meeting, according to the agenda .

The meeting

It was clear from the beginning that the meeting would have some tight parameters.

Officials cited a potential civil right’s lawsuit against the water company that limited what Camino Real Regional Utility Authority could say about water quality issues.

Changes to policy or discussions that would develop new policy by the utility or local governments were not allowed at the meeting because it did not meet the state law definition of a public meeting.

Officials presented in both English and Spanish and descriptions of infrastructure conditions and technical details of wastewater operation.

In addition to Crosby, board members including vice chair Raul Telles and Sunland Park city councilor Alberto Jaramillo were present.

As the presentation by the water utility continued, residents said more directly that they felt officials were not listening to them and brushing off their concerns on paying for bad water, and continued concerns that the water may be unsafe to drink.

Jesus Vaquera, one of the residents who previously asked city officials on the utility’s board to resign , had an exchange with Crosby over the safety of the water.

Vaquera repeatedly tried to pin down “at what age” it was safe to drink the water, noting that a letter sent from the utility said infants, people with certain health conditions and the elderly are more at risk for skin conditions, and other diseases from exposure to arsenic over years.

Crosby reiterated that he was not a doctor, and that the language is what state law requires when the utility violates drinking water standards.

After more back and forth, Jaramillo jumped in.

“The answer is that you talk to your physician, that is the recommended answer from the state,” he said.

Paola Zamora, 64, said that getting a doctor’s advice is now impossible since she lost Medicaid to return to work to address other rising costs.

Zamora pointed to the scar on her chest, saying she’s got heart problems and a pacemaker, which puts her health at risk.

CRRUA progress

About 45 minutes into the presentation, Crosby said he would outline what the utility has accomplished on water quality since he took over for Brent Westmoreland on Jan 1.

Crosby described a malfunction of a sensor pumping water from wells to the tanks, causing the water levels to drop. He said the consequence of that is that iron and manganese – which are not regulated under federal drinking water standards – entered into the pipes sending water to homes, discoloring the water.

Iron and manganese can change the color, smell and taste of water.

Crosby said that Sunland Park was experiencing pockets of discolored water, during high demand, which will stir up the sediments. The March 18 notice sent by the utility did not specify which neighborhoods.

Crosby and Jaramillo recommended flushing the water – by running water in the sink and bathtub, between five to 15 minutes before using it for cooking or washing clothes.

Residents asked if they would have to pay for the water that they are flushing.

“You will get a charge, but go to CRRUA and they’ll give credit for the time you run the system,” Jaramillo responded.

Crosby encouraged residents to call the utility if they have discolored water. About half a dozen residents said they called and hadn’t received a response from the utility.

Another issue, Crosby said, is that the arsenic treatment facilities need to replace filters that are at the end of their lives. He said the process to replace the filters could take 11 to 14 weeks, but that the board has approved buying the filters on an emergency basis.

“We are doing everything possible to make sure we are addressing those issues,” Crosby said.

‘No good water’

In a press conference after the meeting, Jaramillo said that Crosby did not leave due to the questions of residents but because it ran long.

“I think there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Jaramillo said, adding that he plans to host meetings every month going forward, and said that people’s concerns needed to be heard.

When asked by Source NM why residents should trust CRRUA, or the board that the water is safe he pointed to state’s showing that nine of the 10 samples fall below the federal standard, even as all of them contained traces of arsenic.

“They should not believe me whatsoever, they should believe the data, the official statements from the state,” he said.

After the meeting, residents made it clear they felt disrespected.

“All this time, we have had problems with the water,” said Isabel Santos, a former city councilor and interim mayor. Santos is a longtime environmental justice advocate , who fought against the Nu-Mex Landfill and incinerator in Sunland Park in the early 2000s.

Santos, 65, said the water quality issue stretches back decades, pulling out a binder with clipped and laminated newspaper articles dating from 1993 showing lead contamination from the landfill.

Some residents left the meeting visibly upset, such as Elvia Acevedo, 64, of Sunland Park, who had tears in her eyes and voice shook after the meeting.

“I’m angry, I’m sad,” she said in Spanish after the meeting. “We pay for this water, but there is no good water.”

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