EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The New Mexico Environment Department has withdrawn a $1.2 million fine levied against El Paso Water and all allegations of wrongdoing stemming from a 2022 wastewater spill into the Rio Grande have also been withdrawn, El Paso Water said in a news release issued late Friday afternoon, Aug. 9.
As KTSM previously reported, El Paso Water was facing the potential of up to a $2 million fine after 1.25 billion gallons of wastewater was discharged into the Rio Grande between August 2021 and January 2022 after major pipelines in West EL Paso experienced multiple breaks.
In June 2022, NMED issued two administrative compliance orders (ACOs), claiming that
EPWater violated portions of New Mexico’s Surface and Groundwater Protection regulations as a
result of the discharge of wastewater into the Rio Grande after portions of the Frontera
wastewater mains experienced a “catastrophic failure” in August 2021, the utility said.
In response, EPWater filed a lawsuit against NMED in the United States District Court for the
Western District of Texas (El Paso Division), denying all allegations and challenging the legality of
NMED’s enforcement action on the basis that NMED lacked the authority or jurisdiction to
institute its enforcement action, the utility said in its news release.
NMED and EPWater recently entered into a settlement agreement that resulted in the resolution
and dismissal of the fine and related issues, the utility said.
In exchange for the withdrawal of NMED’s enforcement action, EPWater will continue to provide NMED with information, documents and materials pertaining to the Frontera wastewater discharge incident, the utility said.
“From the start of the emergency, EPWater maintained consistent communication with the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency and the
International Boundary and Water Commission. Utility officials also initiated immediate cleanup
of impacted areas within the Rio Grande or surrounding areas. Contractors worked seven days a
week for four months to expedite the replacement of more than a mile of the Frontera pipeline,” according to El Paso Water.
EPWater also says it “proactively started” replacing the Frontera mains in 2020. Beginning on
August 13, 2021, when the remediation work that began in 2020 was 60% complete, the utility
experienced multiple breaks to the Frontera main.
“Additional breaks forced EPWater to make the difficult decision to divert wastewater to the Rio Grande during the time frame between August 2021 and January 2022 in order to prevent wastewater from inundating homes, businesses, streets and in an effort to protect the public health and safety of the community. Throughout that process, the utility maintained regular contact with the community and fully cooperated with regulatory agencies,” the utility said.
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