Taos Ski Valley: Soiled dirt will go to Farmington site

TAOS — Taos Ski Valley officials, under fire over a decision to dump contaminated soil in an area near homes and the Rio Grande, has announced that the dirt will be moved to Farmington.

Taos Ski Valley Inc. hosted a recent town hall that was intended to focus on renovations to the ski area, highspeed ski lifts and other improvements. But most people who attended were there to voice their concerns about the environment, their health and what they saw as a lack of transparency over more than 60 truckloads of dirt contaminated with diesel fuel that had been removed from the ski area and unloaded at a remediation site on land the company owns about one mile west of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

“If it’s not safe for TSV, it’s probably not safe for our area,” said one resident and longtime skier. “I have a lot of questions.”

In August, crews working to reshape part of a ski run discovered the buried pocket of tainted soil, which contained enough fuel to threaten human health. Furthermore, the dirt was within feet of the water table.

Crews moved about 675 cubic yards of dirt to the West Rim of the gorge in mid-September.

The state gave verbal approval for the move, but an application to remediate the soil on-site is still pending.

While the New Mexico Environment Department determined the contaminated soil wouldn’t threaten groundwater quality, residents worried the dirt could become airborne and get into their water-catchment systems. Others were concerned about the impact to the Rio Grande and downriver residents.

Sheryl Romero, a member of the Pueblo Water Protectors, called for an extensive and site-specific environmental review of the remediation plan.

“Everything you’re saying can be done another way,” she told ski valley executives. “… We’re listening, we’re watching.”

After the Nov. 10 meeting, CEO David Norden told The Taos News the ski valley would host another meeting focused on the contaminated soil in the next couple of weeks.

But early this week, the company announced it would move the dirt to a site in Farmington that’s already permitted for soil remediation.

“[Taos Ski Valley] values the opinions of its community greatly and appreciated the opportunity for an open dialogue on the program,” Taos Ski Valley director of sales and marketing Sandy Chio said in a statement.

“With guidance from the experts, [TSV] has decided to relocate the soils in question … in a timely manner, which could be as early as this week,” she said.

This story first appeared in The Taos News, a sister publication of The Santa Fe New Mexican.