Contact: Jorge Estrada, Public Relations Coordinator New Mexico Environment Department 505.690.5326 | george.estrada@env.nm.gov The Environment Department’s mission is to protect and restore the environment and to foster a healthy and prosperous New Mexico for present and future generations. Enforcement Watch Alert: 157 enforcement actions initiated; 104 enforcement actions resolved in February 2025 SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) today released Enforcement Watch updates for the month of February 2025. The Enforcement Watch is a listing of all active and resolved enforcement cases. Active cases involve an alleged violation of a regulation, rule, permit, license, etc. Resolved cases are those that were adjudicated in court of law or administratively resolved. The Enforcement Watch also provides tools for the public to report alleged environmental or workplace safety violations. “The Environment Department’s compliance staff were hard at work in February,” said Bruce Baizel, NMED Compliance and Enforcement Director. “This month’s violations span the full range of our department’s oversight, including a major Department of Defense facility.” In February, 157 new entries were added to the Active Matters listing and 104 were moved to the Resolved Matters listing. New additions to the report included: • 115 notices of violation issued by the Drinking Water Bureau • 27 notices of violation issued by the Food Safety Program to retail food establishments that failed to timely pay their permit fee, resulting in a $25 late fee • 7 notices of violation issued by the Air Quality Bureau • 4 notices of violation issued by the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau • 2 notices of violation in the Public Pools/Spas Bureau • 1 notice of violation in the Hazardous Waste Bureau SCIENCE | INNOVATION | COLLABORATION | COMPLIANCE • 1 notice of violation in the Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau The following enforcement cases were resolved in February: • 88 cases in the Food Safety Program • 10 cases in the Drinking Water Bureau • 2 cases in the Hazardous waste Bureau • 2 cases in the Air Quality Bureau • 2 cases in the Public Pools/Spas Highlights of alleged violations and resolved cases in February include: • The Air Quality Bureau issued a Notice of Violation and Administrative Compliance Order against the United States Army for continuing to violate state and federal air quality regulations over a five-year period at White Sands Missile Range. The numerous alleged violations include exceeding limits on air pollutants from engines, exceeding operating hour limits on engines, and failing to keep or provide records for engines and gasoline dispensing. • The Air Quality Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to Spur Energy Partners, LLC for their Osage Boyd 15 Federal Com Battery facility in Eddy County. This case is the result of an inspection that originated as a complaint. It involves four violations pertaining to equipment inspections, required notifications, and construction without a permit. • The Drinking Water Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to the Carrizozo Water System for not providing public notice of failure to correct significant deficiencies within the water system. • The Food Safety Program issued a Notice of Violation to Hampton Inn and Suites of Las Cruces for operating without a valid food establishment permit. • The Public Pools and Spas Program issued a Notice of Violation to 24 Total Balance in Las Cruces for failure to obtain a construction permit under the New Mexico Public Aquatic Venues Regulation. • The Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau issued a Notice of Intent to Red Tag to Adam’s Nice and Fresh Inc. of Belen for failure to provide a leak detection system for an underground storage tank. • The Hazardous Waste Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to Electric Clouds E-Cigs of Albuquerque for failing to conduct weekly inspections and other violations of New Mexico waste management regulations. • The Hazardous Waste Bureau resolved a matter with Holly Frontier Sinclair Asphalt Company in Albuquerque for violations including open containers of hazardous waste, failure to operate the facility to minimize spills and releases, failure to perform weekly inspections, failure to label containers, storage of waste for greater than 90 days for some unusable product material that was stored in tanks at the facility, and failure to meet tank standards for that storage violations observed during a 2020 inspection of their Albuquerque facility. HF Sinclair Asphalt paid a penalty of $60,182.00 and corrected the issues that led to the violations. • The Air Quality Bureau resolved two matters with Rock Solid Materials of Portales for late payment of permit fees. Enforcement Watch provides the public, the business community, environmental nongovernment organizations, and municipal governments with easy access to see which organizations NMED has alleged are in violation of regulations, permits, and/or licenses administered by the Department. It is updated when violations are alleged or resolved. Retrospective enforcement matters are added as staffing resources allow. Organizations remain on Enforcement Watch until the alleged violations are corrected to the satisfaction of the Department. The easiest way for an organization to avoid appearing on the Enforcement Watch is to stay off it in the first place by remaining in full compliance with applicable regulations. NMED encourages organizations that are unclear of their regulatory responsibilities to contact a consultant and conduct a third-party compliance audit and disclose potential violations. NMED provides detailed compliance and enforcement metrics in the Compliance Measures section of the Quarterly Performance Report. The full Enforcement Watch can be viewed at https://www.env.nm.gov/enforcement-watch.