Dairy hearings staying in Roswell

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday upheld a decision that will keep upcoming dairy rule hearings in Roswell, the New Mexico Environment Department announced.

The Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club had sought to move the hearings before the New Mexico Water Qualify Control Commission, saying that such technical hearings should be set in Santa Fe to comply with state statutes.

Beverly Idsinga, executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico, said the producers’ organization is “very pleased” with the supreme court’s decision.

Most of the state’s dairy producers, 75 percent, she said, are located in Southeast New Mexico.

“Dairy farming is a 24/7 business,” she said. “Dairy farmers can’t afford to spend several days away from their operations to attend hearings in Santa Fe.”

The dairy industry directly employs more than 4,200 New Mexicans, an Environment Department news release said.

The Sierra Club noted that the court also ruled that New Mexico Attorney General Gary King may participate in the hearings. The Environment Department had attempted to bar King from participating in the hearings, the Sierra Club’s Don Lorimier said.

Lorimier also noted the court ruled further action could be taken on the hearings’ location, but only after the hearings are complete and decisions are made.

The Sierra Club, through the Environmental Law Center, filed a lawsuit last fall arguing that the hearings should be held in Santa Fe.

Lorimier said he remains confident that a more stringent set of requirements for the dairy industry to protect underground water resources from contamination will be enacted after all hearings are completed.

Idsinga has said additional proposed requirements, including more monitoring wells and better regulation of using dairy waste as fertilizer, would be prohibitively costly for the industry.