Moriarty fuel depot raises water-use concerns
Aug. 1—A fuel depot that will store up to 15.5 million gallons of petrochemical products at a Moriarty site has at least one resident concerned about the 6.5 million gallons of groundwater that will be used to hydro-test the five enormous storage tanks in an area where the main aquifer is stressed from drought.
Houston-based Enterprise Products is building the storage facility on 60 acres off N.M. 41 near Moriarty, mostly to supply independent dealers in the multi-county area, including service stations and truck stops.
If Enterprise is to achieve its goal of having the facility operating by the end of the year, it must hydro-test the hulking tanks to ensure they are sound, with no leaks, so they can be certified to store fuels.
This is why a massive quantity of water is required.
Diverting millions of gallons of groundwater from the Estancia Basin for the project, even for a one-time use, is something communities like Edgewood should have been made aware of, but weren't, said Terri Scott, a Sandia Park resident.
"How is it that the community doesn't get a say in this?" Scott said.
The Torrance County planning and zoning board backed the fuel depot at a public hearing a year ago, and the County Commission later approved it.
Neither Don Goen, the county's planning and zoning director, nor Enterprise spokesman Rick Rainey could say Tuesday the amount of water that would be used to prime the storage tanks or where it would come from.
Goen said water supply was outside of his purview, and Rainey said he would look into it.
Jack Crider, CEO of Entranosa Water and Wastewater Association, said Enterprise officials inquired a while back about whether it would be possible to pump 6.5 million gallons of water from the Estancia Basin to conduct their hydro-tests.
Crider said he recommended they pull the water from a fire hydrant in Stanley, a community in southern Santa Fe County. The hydrant is fed by three sizable wells in the central part of the basin, which, unlike the more depleted western portion, has plenty of groundwater to supply the amount they want, he said.
The water sells for $20 per 1,000 gallons, though Enterprise would probably bargain for a lower bulk rate, Crider said. The bigger expense would be transporting all the water to the site, he said, because with a tanker carrying only 6,000 gallons, it would require a lot of trips, he added.
Crider said 6.5 million gallons was about a tenth of the water his cooperative supplied to users last month.
"So, no big deal," Crider said.
But Scott said residents who depend on the basin for groundwater might have a different opinion.
The Entranosa cooperative supplies water to Edgewood, where residents objected vehemently at public meetings two years ago about Campbell Farming Corp.'s plans to build 4,000 homes on 8,000 acres, contending the area lacked the water for a project of that scope.
Enterprise chose the Moriarty site for the depot, Rainey wrote, because it's near a pipeline that will deliver most of its fuels. Only the ethanol will be trucked in, he added.
"The purpose of the project is to provide consumers in this underserved region with another supply source for refined products from the U.S. Gulf Coast at a lower price than existing supplies," Rainey wrote.
Enterprise has agreed to add an auxiliary lane into the site, so the estimated 90 to 100 trucks that will pick up fuel daily won't create a hazard or jam traffic on the busy highway, Goen said.
As for its hefty one-time water use, Scott, who works on her county's groundwater-monitoring program, said she will consult with a hydrologist on whether it will have a significant impact on an aquifer that is under increasing demand.
"An out-of-state corporation is doing business here," Scott said. "They talk about the fuel [tank] farm, but they don't talk about the resources that won't be replaced anytime soon."
