Santa Fe County Commission supports Pecos mining ban

Sep. 12—A movement to protect the Pecos River watershed has been gaining momentum since 2019, when a foreign mining company applied for a state permit to begin exploratory drilling for metals.

The Stop Tererro Mine Coalition wants Congress or U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to prohibit mining on nearly 170,000 acres of federal land in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, most of it managed by the Santa Fe National Forest.

"Nobody wants to see a mine here," coalition member Ralph Vigil said. "Nobody wants it at all." Vigil chairs the New Mexico Acequia Commission and owns a small organic farm.

He described the fight for a mineral withdrawal as an uphill battle.

"You know politics," Vigil said. "But I think we have what we need."

The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday voted to send a letter to New Mexico's congressional delegates, urging them to reintroduce the Pecos Watershed Protection Act. U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, and U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury, all Democrats, introduced the bill in 2021 to permanently ban new mineral claims in the Pecos watershed. The bill died in a Senate Committee.

A growing number of advocates hope for a better outcome if the measure gets a second chance.

The commissioners' letter also asked the delegates to designate a swath of land near the Pecos River headwaters as wilderness.

Garrett VeneKlasen, a conservation director with New Mexico Wild, said Tuesday the designation would give it the "highest level of landscape protection" and would prevent mining.

Adjacent to the popular Pecos Wilderness, the proposed Thompson Peak Wilderness has been recommended for designation by the Santa Fe National Forest. That's because it is an untouched and roadless area, said Lela McFerrin, a Stop Tererro Mine Coalition member and vice president of the Upper Pecos Watershed Association.

The proposed wilderness area also covers many of the mining claims filed by Comexico LLC, McFerrin said.

Comexico is a Colorado subsidiary of Australian mining firm New World Resources that has gained ownership of mining claims across over 4,000 acres in the area.

The company's plans to mine for minerals spurred protest among Pecos residents in 2019, largely over concerns about the effects to their water supplies. And in 2021, a national nonprofit listed the Pecos River as one of the most endangered in the nation because of the threat of new mining.

The commission's action came ahead of a town hall meeting the Stop Tererro Mine Coalition is holding Wednesday at Santa Fe Community College to rally people around the preservation effort, another step toward building support.

Santa Fe and San Miguel counties and the village of Pecos passed resolutions this summer in support of a mineral withdrawal. Several lawmakers in the state also have called for the mineral withdrawal, as did Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in May.

The County Commission and others also have asked Haaland to temporarily ban new mineral claims on the land, which she could do for up to 20 years. A spokeswoman said Tuesday the Interior Department had no comment on Haaland's position.

In their letter to New Mexico's congressional delegates, commissioners wrote, "The risks to headwaters of the Pecos River from mineral exploration and development are both real and urgent."

The letter continued, "Contamination from past mining in the region and impacts on water quality have long been concerns for Pecos Valley residents. In the early 1990s, toxic waste from past mining activities near Tererro entered the river and contaminated community water supplies, caused a massive fish kill, and drove away tourists, resulting in an economic downturn."

In its resolution declaring support for the Pecos, the commission noted environmental devastation wrought by the old Tererro mine dating back to the 1880s.

Protecting the land is essential, the resolution states, because it provides water to communities and farmers; holds "deep cultural significance" to pueblos; provides outdoor recreation, including fishing and camping; and provides habitat for wildlife.

"The health and well-being of these watersheds protect all of us," Commission Chairwoman Anna Hansen said.