The New Mexico environment secretary has granted a new wastewater discharge permit to a luxury resort in the Tesuque foothills following more than a year of public outcry from nearby residents.
Cabinet Secretary James Kenney’s decision Thursday marks a win for Bishop’s Lodge, which recently installed a new wastewater system and needed a permit to discharge its treated water.
Members of a group called Protect Tesuque that opposes the resorts’ plan to discharge treated effluent into a leach field near Little Tesuque Creek slammed the decision, arguing the move threatens their wells downstream.
“New Mexico has strong protections on the books to keep wastewater away from our creeks and aquifers. Today’s approval walks past those protections,” Rusty Day, a Tesuque resident, said in a statement Thursday evening. “Families, farmers, and Tribal communities are expected to follow strict rules every day — yet a large commercial operator is being allowed to discharge at volumes and in a location that puts the public at risk.”
Following construction of a new water treatment plant, Bishop’s Lodge sought a revised permit to discharge 30,000 gallons of treated wastewater a day into a leach field on its property. Treated water will be used for irrigation on the property during parts of the year.
Residents who live near the resort are concerned about the proximity of the new leach field to Little Tesuque Creek. Protest signs continue to line Bishop’s Lodge Road.
Bishop’s Lodge representatives argue its plan to use the leach field is environmentally sound and will comply with state and federal environmental standards. The Environment Department, with Kenney’s decision this week, again made it clear that it agrees.
Protect Tesuque has argued the Environment Department should apply the state’s liquid waste regulations to the permit request rather than a law on ground and surface water protections.
An old wastewater treatment plant at Bishop’s Lodge, built in the mid-1970s, hasn’t functioned properly for years, leading the resort to pump wastewater into trucks and haul it to the city’s wastewater treatment plant — a method that has been described as inefficient and costly.
The new plant can treat wastewater to a “much better” quality, according to a document prepared by the Environment Department.
In July, after hearing oral arguments, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled against Protect Tesuque, which had filed an emergency petition with the high court, dashing its hopes of halting the state Environment Department’s approval process for the permit.
Perched in the scenic foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Bishop’s Lodge is a luxury resort with prices nearing $1,000 a night for a room and over $5,000 for a three-bedroom suite.