Coalition Sues Governor to Regulate New Mexico Factory Farms

by Taylor Leake · 2011-01-19 07:55:00 UTC
Topics:

Last week, Change.org told you about a sneaky move by New Mexico's new Governor to side-step a factory farm law that passed last year. Laws don't go into effect in New Mexico until they are printed in the register, so newly elected Republican Governor Susana Martinez has simply ordered those responsible not to print the law, an underhanded move to prevent the factory farm regulations from ever going into effect.

The regulations would have required farms to apply for waste-discharge permits, making sure that factory farms told the state government how much waste they were spewing and how they were attempting to control their pollution. The move may not be much more work for the farms, but it would make a big difference to the state's water supply, a precious commodity in such a dry state. According to the New Mexico State Environment Department, 90 percent of groundwater near dairy factory farms are contaminated. These water supplies will stay polluted if Governor Martinez gets her way.

A coalition of nonprofits and concerned citizens recently stepped in to try and ensure that Governor Martinez isn't able to undo years of hard work with a loophole. The coalition — which includes Caballo Concerned Citizens, Citizens For Dairy Reform, Rio Valle Concerned Citizens, the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, and Amigos Bravos — is represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC). The impressive group of environmental and sustainable food nonprofits is suing Governor Susana Martinez, the Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department, and the New Mexico State Records Administrator to compel them to print the factory farm regulations so that they can go into effect. "When the Board adopts a rule and files it with the State Records Center, the law requires the rule to be published in the State Register," said Jonathan Block, NMELC Staff Attorney. "That’s how regulations become enforceable law. The Governor cannot circumvent the law or expand her powers by executive order.”

The lawsuit not only seeks to restore the law that should never have been thrown out in the first place (and, not incidentally, the balance of constitutional power in New Mexico) but also draws attention to the environmental problems associated with factory farms. You can help the coalition with their fight by signing our petition urging Governor Martinez not to scrap New Mexico's factory farm regulations.

GOT A TIP FOR US? Is there a story or campaign you think we should know about? E-mail us at foodtips@change.org. Please also follow Change.org's Sustainable Food page on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: StuSeeger via Flickr

Taylor Leake is a foodie and activist. He's previously worked for Food and Water Watch and Wake Up Walmart.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Unscrupulous Dairy Boss Threatens to Sue His Farm Workers
NEXT STORY:
Join the Social Media Day of Action to Rid Girl Scout Cookies of Forest-Destroying Palm Oil

COMMENTS (0)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.