SOCORRO – A recent decision by the Valencia County Board of Commissioners may result in a lot more trucks passing through Las Nutrias and Veguita along Highway 304.
The Valencia County Commission on July 15 gave the green light to a scrap metal recycling plant that plans to locate south of the Rio Communities near Belen along 304.
Socorro County Commissioner Rumaldo Griego, who lives in the Veguita area, attended two recent Valencia County Commission meetings to express his concern and to inquire about the possible routes trucks would take to get to the plant, which would be part of a larger industrial park.
“I can imagine trucks with tons of scrap metal going through Belen. That’s not going to happen,” Griego said. “They’re going to go all the way down to exit 175 – the Bernardo exit – and turn. It will impact the Boys Ranch, Las Nutrias, Veguita, and all the way up. I’m going to fight to my last breath to keep them from going through there.”
The Valencia County Commission approved the use of county land for the Roadrunner Metals Recycling plant during a meeting Wednesday, July 15, denying an appeal of a decision by the county’s planning and zoning commission. Two Valencia County residents who said the plant doesn’t conform to zoning requirements brought the appeal.
The Valencia County Commission’s decision also happened despite a letter Socorro County Manager Delilah Walsh sent to the Valencia County Commission on behalf of the Socorro County Commission.
“Commissioners anticipate recyclers will travel along U.S. Highway 60 then up state Highway 304 to the facility, thus causing major increases in traffic patterns and road use,” the letter stated. “We are concerned that the volume of vehicles hauling metal, as well as everyday traffic traveling to the facility, will have a significantly negative impact on residents, farmers and dairies located along state Highway 304.”
The letter then asked the commissioners to consider those issues.
“As this route will have a clear negative impact on our communities, roads and quality of life, we request you consider this impact with your permitting decision,” Walsh’s letter stated.
Walsh said the Socorro County Commission will vote on a resolution echoing those concerns at its 6 p.m. Aug. 11 meeting.
The issue will go back to the Valencia Planning and Zoning Board of Commissioners. Walsh said the protest period has ended, so there is not much that can be done to prevent the Roadrunner plant from moving on its plans.
Griego said the Valencia County commissioners did not answer his questions when he attended their meetings. He believes trucks would travel on Highway 304 because it would be the fastest, easiest route to the proposed site, which is south of the Rio Communities on 304.
Valencia County Commissioner Ron Gentry, the commissioner who voted against approving use of the county’s land for the recycling plant in a 2-1 vote, said in an interview Monday that the company has cleared almost all of the necessary hurdles to open the plant. Gentry said he is unaware of any timelines as to when the plant would be up and running.
“I agree with (Greigo); the trucks are going to cause horrendous damage to the roads, and I think it’s just inappropriate for the area,” Gentry said. “They’re going to bring the biggest junk operation in New Mexico into our area.”
Gentry lives on Highway 304 in the area where the plant would be built. He said Highway 304 will likely be the route for trucks traveling northbound to the plant, including trucks coming through Torrance County.
“It seems like if they’re going to sustain this kind of operation, they’re going to need a lot of scrap coming through,” Gentry said.
Once the metal is processed at the plant, Gentry said, it would be trucked to locations in either El Paso or Pueblo, Colo.
Griego said Highway 304 already has relatively heavy traffic with agriculture-related trucks passing through every day. He said the pollution from traffic on that highway has noticeable consequences: the seedlings he has planted in his back yard have grown much taller than those in the front yard, which he said faces Highway 304.
Griego said Highway 304 would be the easiest and most direct route to the plant for trucks traveling both north and south on Interstate 25.
“I’m not trying to tell Valencia County what to do with their planning and zoning, but if this is going to impact Socorro County, I’m not going to be quiet about it,” Griego said.
Griego brought up the issue at the last meeting of the Socorro County Board of Commissioners.
“I agree with you. They’re going to tear up our roads,” Commission Vice Chairman Danny Monette said at the meeting.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment