EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) says it’s working to address deficiencies identified by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) late last year.
CRRUA, which supplies water to Santa Teresa and Sunland Park, issued a news release on Tuesday, March 26 saying it has made progress in addressing deficiencies identified in a survey of the utility done back in December.
The utility also said it has learned that the New Mexico Environment Cabinet Secretary James C. Kenney has called on the state Department of Justice and the state Auditor Office to investigate CRRUA.
NMED reported that it had found 58 deficiencies during a survey of CRRUA’s operations, according to the utility.
The utility said at that time its executive director Brent Westmoreland left.
The utility went on to address what it has done to address those state-identified deficiencies.
In January, the CRRUA board of directors named Juan Carlos Crosby interim executive director.
According to the utility, NMED identified four main “priorities” for the utility: proper operation of the utility’s four arsenic treatment facilities; arsenic levels in drinking water needing to be within EPA maximum limits of 10 parts per billion (PPB); the training of plant operators; and to routinely check and document the calibration of all chemic addition pumps.
“CRRUA worked hard and quickly to address the deficiencies. All arsenic treatment facilities are operational and initial corrections have been made with some associated tasks still pending. Currently, arsenic samples taken at all four of CRRUA’s treatment facilities are below 10 ppb. Throughout the process of addressing deficiencies, CRRUA is fully cooperating with NMED,” the utility said in a news release.
The utility also says its board has approved additional improvements. These include: replacing filter media in two of the four arsenic treatment facilities to improve performance; physical upgrades to three water wells to reduce the possibility of failure during peak usage; and monitoring all water wells on SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) by computer/phone and receive instant alarm notifications. CRRUA also says it is developing plans to rehabilitate and/or replace the remainder of its “aging infrastructure.”
To track its progress in correcting the NMED identified deficiencies, CRRUA created a progress checklist in English and Spanish of NMED mandated corrections. The utility says within weeks, it has reached 56% compliance. The progress checklist is updated as corrections are made and can be viewed online at https://www.crrua.org/ and at https://www.facebook.com/crruainfo,
In addition, CRRUA says it has improved communication with the public by increasing its online and social media content. It has also created a YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@crrua_info. The first video is an inside look at the arsenic removal process at one of CRRUA’s treatment facilities.
“We’re proud of our achievements and ongoing improvements at CRRUA since the new administration began in January,” said board chair Susana Chaparro.
“This is a perfect opportunity for our state and federal elected officials to help our constituents by supporting CRRUA’s efforts in spirit and with funding,” Chaparro added.
“We at CRRUA face ongoing criticism and negativity and understand that customers are sometimes unhappy and frustrated. But I want to assure them that we have made many improvements and continue to move forward in providing reliable service and quality water,” Crosby said. “What we were handed did not occur overnight and cannot be fixed overnight. But we continue to achieve positive results and we thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Chaparro and Crosby said CRRUA will fully cooperate with any investigation to “the greatest extent possible.”
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