‘Bad’ gas station water at center of state lawsuit

State claims business failed to correct quality violations for more than a year

A small community store and gas station in Bernalillo County that gained attention in the television series Breaking Bad is being sued by the New Mexico Environment Department, which claims it has failed to correct waterquality violations for more than a year, including E. Coli contamination.

Called the Cañoncito Desert Oasis when the last episode of Breaking Bad used the store for a scene in its final episode in 2013, the business has since been renamed the Vapor Inc. Community Store.

According to a suit the Environment Department filed last month in state District Court, the gas station’s drinking water system has been subject to ongoing state and federal violations for failing to monitor or remedy E. Coli and total coliform contamination since at least 2014. Other state records show similar claims have been recurrent since 1998.

Total coliform are bacterial contaminants from soil or water that came in contact with human or animal waste. E. coli generally is considered the most serious. Though some strains are harmless, others cause disease and infections ranging from diarrhea and stomach cramps to kidney failure, and in some cases, death.

The state claims that the gas station’s former owner, Prescilla Velasquez, was to submit total coliform samples to the state as of Jan. 31. Then it was to inform its customers of the water contamination, devise a plan to correct problems and fix sanitary issues discovered in 2016. But these requirements were not met, the state says, so it is seeking a $6,000 fine.

The state said the fine was minimized because the gas station recently came under new ownership and is now managed by Dennis Buckman, who says he has fixed the problems and is becoming a certified operator.

Velasquez and Buckman could not be reached for comment Monday.

The state has entered into 16 enforcement actions against state drinking water systems this year, more than half related to issues with total coliform monitoring and other sanitation issues. Among systems with violations are Wild Willy’s RV Park in Chaves County and ABC Preschool in Bernalillo County.

In the last week, the state also issued an advisory to boil water for Cañada de Los Alamos, a 54-person water system in Santa Fe County. This advisory, the state said, was for drinking water and water used in cooking, washing fruits

and vegetables, brushing teeth, feeding a baby or making ice.

As for the Cañoncito gas station, state records say it was out of compliance with the a total coliform rule in 2009, 2010, 2012, and consistently since 2014. It was in compliance in 2013.

That was the year the last episode of Breaking Bad aired. In it, haggard protagonist Walter White pulled up to the antiquelooking gas station off Interstate 40. While refueling his Volvo, he inconspicuously popped the trunk and grabbed a pill bottle from a bag stuffed with cash. Then he bent down and took a gulp of water from a hand-crank hose between the pumps. White groaned, choked and hung his head between his knees, coughing, giving the station a moment of national exposure between its battles with the state.

According to a suit, the gas station’s drinking water system has been subject to ongoing violations for failing to monitor or remedy E. Coli and total coliform contamination since at least 2014.