EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) has corrected seven more deficiencies identified by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), bringing it to 82.75 percent compliance, the utility announced Tuesday, Oct. 1 in a news release.
CRRUA provides water and wastewater service to Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.
The utility said of the 58 deficiencies NMED identified late last year, CRRUA has corrected 48 and is now at 82.75 compliant, up from 70 percent in the last report.
CRRUA initiated a progress checklist to track the corrections. The seven deficiencies CRRUA corrected are numbers 1, 3, 4, 31, 37, 39 and 40, according to the utility.
The utility said the progress checklist is updated regularly and is always available for viewing on the home page of the CRRUA website at crrua.org.
The main items remaining on the checklist are water tank inspections that are part of a five-year requirement, according to the utility.
CRRUA said it has already scheduled the inspections and has secured a certified contractor to complete the inspections by the end of December.
“CRRUA continues to make improvements to the water distribution system to ensure customers are receiving safe, consumable water,” CRRUA Executive Director Juan Crosby said. “We voluntarily started the progress checklist as a transparent way for customers to follow the actions CRRUA is taking.”
Crosby said other recent improvements include the replacement of filter media at two arsenic treatment facilities for operational efficiency and continued delivery of safe water that meets government standards.
“All four arsenic treatment facilities are operating and functioning properly,” Crosby said. “We are treating water that continues to be below the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Maximum Contamination Level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion (ppb.)”
CRRUA recently passed NMED’s third-quarter arsenic tests and CRRUA’s voluntary monthly arsenic tests for September that were verified by an NMED-certified independent laboratory, according to the utility.
The utility said CRRUA has now passed 14 arsenic tests since January 24.
On Sept. 24, the New Mexico Office of State Auditor (OSA) announced that it completed its investigation into CRRUA initiated by NMED in March.
The OSA investigation concluded that allegations regarding misuse of funds by CRRUA were “unsubstantiated,” according to the utility.
As we previously reported, the utility has been under fire for months over concerns about water quality and discolored water. Some residents have told KTSM that the issues have been going on for years.
Read: Read More