State settles case with local dairyman
A local dairyman has committed to submit a plan to reduce groundwater contamination at a Lea County dairy he owns, according to the New Mexico Environment Department.
According to a department news release sent out Thursday, the department issued a compliance order to Eddie “Ed the Dairyman” Schaap of Ranchvale on Nov. 3 for failing to install a well to monitor groundwater conditions beneath High Lonesome Dairy near Hobbs.
State regulations require such monitoring wells to detect whether pollution prevention measures are successful, and the regulations allow for civil penalties in the case of violations.
The settlement includes a fine of $3,000, according to the news release.
During an October campaign stop in Roswell, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin alluded several times to “Ed the Dairyman” after seeing someone in the crowd holding a sign that had identified Schaap that way.
According to the release, the installation process began Nov. 19 and was finished by Dec. 8.
The well showed groundwater contamination near the dairy’s lagoon to be in excess of state water quality standards. The dairy is near several residences with drinking water wells, according to the release.
The dairy voluntarily agreed to submit a plan to decrease the contamination, according to the release.
“Dairies must follow state regulations to protect groundwater from contamination,” said department Water and Waste Management Division Director Marcy Leavitt in the release. “We have found that approximately 65 percent of dairies in New Mexico have caused groundwater contamination, so it is important that those facilities have proper monitoring systems.”
Schaap issued the following statement:
“I believe I am in compliance with my New Mexico Environment discharge permit. I was forced to put a well in a dangerous location by compliance order of NMED. The NMED and I could not come to an agreement on a safe location for the monitor well, and I was issued a compliance order and assessed a fine.
“In 1991, I installed two monitor wells in a location at my lagoon that the NMED chose. The wells were constructed to meet NMED requirements. The wells leaked and caused ground water contamination.
“This new well I was forced to put in now shows to be 4.6 mg/L higher than the NMED standards.
“The NMED practice of putting monitor wells in very close proximity to lagoons and point sources is the cause of the groundwater contamination in the state. EPA and water quality professionals agree that the indiscriminate drilling of monitor wells for every facility could result in the contamination of groundwater and drinking water aquifers.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
