Attorney Bruce Frederick, of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center who represents approximately 80 protestants, said the letter is an improvement over the state engineer’s prior silence on the application. “But the State engineer apparently intends to allow San Augustin Ranch to speculate in water by attempting to create a new pseudo-beneficial use called ‘commercial sales,’” Frederick said. El Defensor Chieftain
Go to El Defensor Chieftain for full story.
12/11/2014 • Back to top
After a district court judge denied the state’s Sierra Club chapter a writ requiring that hearings on dairy rules be held in Santa Fe rather than Roswell, the Sierra Club now has asked the court to reconsider its denial.
On Sept. 25, First Judicial District Judge Jennifer Attrip denied the Sierra Club’s petition, but on Sept. 26 the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, representing the Sierra Club, asked the judge in a court filing to reconsider the decision. Quay County Sun
Go to Quay County Sun for full story.
12/05/2014 • Back to top
Staff Attorney Eric Jantz discusses zombie uranium mines and human rights with the Santa Fe Radio Cafe.
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11/24/2014 • Back to top
Staff Attorney Jon Block discusses current and proposed dairy regulations, and their impact on New Mexico’s groundwater with the Santa Fe Radio Cafe.
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11/21/2014 • Back to top
Staff Attorney Bruce Frederick discusses the Copper Rule and latest win against a water grab in the East Mountains of Albuquerque, NM with the Santa Fe Radio Cafe.
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11/20/2014 • Back to top
Law Center Talks About Environmental Protections under the Martinez Administration
Executive Director Douglas Meiklejohn talks to KSFR’s Santa Fe Radio Cafe about how the Law Center got started and what four more years of the Martinez Administration will do to New Mexico’s environment.
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11/19/2014 • Back to top
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center
helps open the doors of our legal
process to local communities who are working to protect their water, land and air from pollution.
The Sebia Hawkins Memorial Fund
Santa Fe, N.M. – On November 14, 2014, New Mexico State Engineer denied the company Aquifer Science LLC the right to pump hundreds of acre-feet of water annually from the Sandia Underground Water Basin because there is no unappropriated groundwater available in the Basin to satisfy the application. (view order)
On behalf of dozens of landowners in the area, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) successfully argued before the State Engineer that there was not sufficient water in the Sandia Basin to serve the new development. The company sought to acquire the water to develop a 4000 home residential community and 18-hole golf course in the East Mountains area east of Albuquerque, NM.
Santa Fe, N.M. – On October 27th, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) filed a petition with the New Mexico Supreme Court asking the Court to review the Court of Appeals September decision on New Mexico’s energy efficiency building codes. The Court of Appeals upheld the repeal of the codes and upheld the adoption of codes that require substantially less energy efficiency for new buildings. The Petition was filed for Environment New Mexico, Sundancer Creations Custom Builders, LLC, eSolved, Inc., Tammy Fiebelkorn, Sanders Moore, and Faren Dancer.
“In lieu of reviewing the record, the Court of Appeals merely assumed that it contained substantial evidence because it was such a ‘voluminous record’,” says Douglas Meiklejohn, NMELC Executive Director and lead counsel on the case. “I think most people understand that the presence of many pages does not necessarily equal actual substance.”
