The New Mexico Environment Department told the committee how it plans to use a $20 million legislative appropriation to address neglected contaminated sites, abandoned uranium mines and leaking petroleum tanks across the state.

Breakdown of priorities: NMED said it has allocated roughly $12 million toward uranium-mine projects, $2 million to petroleum-storage-tank corrective work, and the balance to neglected contaminated sites and program oversight. Officials provided project-level descriptions and implementation time frames for a first tranche of sites.

Selected projects and approach: at the former AREX refinery near Bloomfield, NMED said it will remove contaminated soil, abandon or replace monitoring wells as needed, and implement an initial remediation phase in late 2025 so the property can be reused. The Tucumcari truck-terminal site will receive immediate response and removal of vandalized above-ground tanks and assessment of groundwater contamination; NMED said free-phase petroleum product was found in two monitoring wells and that the agency will pursue available brownfields funding where feasible.

Uranium-mine priorities: the department identified three mine sites for initial cleanup this fiscal year: the Mow Number 4 decline, the Red Bluff Number 1 waste piles, and the Schmidt Decline Mine. Contracts for heavy-construction work were reported active as of July 1, and sites were scheduled for mobilization and remediation work with final deliverables to be completed under the fiscal-year timetable. NMED said remediation tactics vary by site: at some mines the plan is to backfill openings and consolidate waste into mine openings before capping; at others the plan calls for removal and secure disposal.

Why it matters and strategy: NMED emphasized that many abandoned mine sites and legacy contaminated properties lack a responsible party able to pay for cleanup; the agency said it will use the new law’s responsible-party definitions and other authorities to pursue cost recovery where possible. Officials said contracting locally when possible will deliver jobs to affected communities and speed implementation.

Timeline and oversight: NMED said the goal was to spend the appropriation with “boots on the ground” during the current fiscal year. Contracts were issued July 1 and initial mobilization dates in July and August were cited for several projects; the department said it would return to the legislature with an accounting of results and next-phase needs.

Ending: NMED said the appropriation is a first step and that further funding and a larger multi-pronged legal and characterization effort will be necessary to address the roughly 1,000 abandoned uranium sites across New Mexico. Lawmakers on the committee urged sustained budgets and added legal and technical capacity to pursue historic responsible parties and to scale cleanup work.