Residents urge county to review Visbi effluent recharge plan over San Pedro River and well concerns

Two residents urged the Cochise County Flood Control District on June 10 to reconsider a planned effluent recharge project they say could harm the San Pedro River and local wells.

At a public-comment segment at the Flood Control District meeting in Bisbee, Jack Veal, a Palominas resident, said treated wastewater planned for recharge could carry so-called "forever chemicals" into groundwater and local wells. "Basically, we're gonna be drinking cancer, probably, causing, products if y'all allow this project to happen and pump into our river," Veal said. He asked whether the county had held public meetings for residents whose wells could be affected and offered to provide research links to the board.

Veal told the board he had spoken with long-time ranchers who say the San Pedro River often flows underground rather than on the surface, and that local history matters when evaluating recharge plans. He also cited a 2022 law journal article he said characterized pumping effluent into a river as equivalent to pumping raw sewage under the Clean Water Act; the board did not adopt that legal characterization during the meeting.

Lloyd Trachtenberg, the second speaker, raised geology and siting concerns. He said Bisbee's treatment plant has unresolved problems and that routing sewer pipe and locating a recharge facility near the border would require buying private land while BLM land was unavailable. "You wanna buy somebody's acreage because BLM... refuses to let you put this plant on their side of the river," Trachtenberg said. He also said subsurface shale and slate would not adequately filter wastewater and warned of impacts to his Hereford organic farm and livestock markets.

The board did not take formal action on the public comments. Supervisor Crosby told the speakers that he was arranging work sessions and said, "they can rest assured that I am not in favor of a sewer facility over by Mister Beal's property." Deputy County Administrator Joe Casey and other staff later told the board that work sessions were scheduled to provide more detail to supervisors before any final decisions about project funding or rate-setting.

Why this matters: residents near Palominas and Hereford rely on private wells and local agriculture; recharge projects and wastewater reuse can affect groundwater quality and local water availability depending on engineering, geology and regulatory controls. At the June 10 meeting the board heard concerns but did not vote to approve or halt any project.

The Flood Control District will hold additional work sessions and a flood-control budget work session later the same day; the board noted future opportunities for public input during that process.