By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The state’s highest court will hear arguments in early July over a legal challenge to sewage disposal in Tesuque Village, as residents contend that state regulators’ permitting actions were unconstitutional.
In an order issued last week, the New Mexico Supreme Court set a date for arguments on July 8.
The hearing allows the justices to ask questions of attorneys, said Tom Hnasko, an attorney representing residents, with a brief 20-minute window for arguments.
At the center of the dustup is the New Mexico Environment Department’s nod for a proposed permit for plans to dispose of treated wastewater from Bishop’s Lodge, a luxury resort, and adjacent homes.
The permit allows for the discharge up to 30,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater into a new low-dose disposal field using a treatment plant installed in 2024. The current state permit allows Bishop’s Lodge to dispose of about half that across two disposal fields on the property.
Residents objecting to the permit coalesced into the nonprofit Protect Tesuque, which claims the disposal method threatens to pollute drinking wells downstream. Tesuque Village, with a population of about 1,000 people, relies on private wells and septic tanks.
In April, attorneys representing Project Tesuque submitted an emergency petition that claimed the state’s process amounted to a constitutional violation by unequally enforcing limitations in liquid waste laws between smaller and larger permits.
In court documents, The New Mexico Environment Department requested the court dismiss the proceedings, saying the claims did not meet the threshold of an emergency, needlessly interrupted the permitting process and that the water was treated to exceed state and federal quality standards.
“[Bishop’s Lodge] Santa Fe has the best available technology wastewater treatment facility on site that treats wastewater so thoroughly that the wastewater can be recycled and reused… to irrigate food crops,” the response stated.
Administrative proceedings for the permit’s approval started in May, but were delayed following an order from the New Mexico Supreme Court to pause the hearings until the court weighed in.
This story originally published online at sourcenm.com and was reprinted with permission
