20081018 SPGEG Letter to Richardson

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Transcript of 20081018 SPGEG Letter to Richardson

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    October 18, 2008

    Honorable Bill Richardson

    Office of the Governor

    490 Old Santa Fe TrailRoom 400

    Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

    VIA HAND DELIVERY AND REGULAR MAIL

    Dear Governor Richardson:

    Two years ago we hand-delivered a package of evidence to you during your

    campaign rally in Sunland Park. The evidence demonstrated that our community was

    dangerously contaminated. We asked you to help us. A copy of our letter to you is

    attached hereto.

    Heres what we asked you to do:

    1. We want due process of law. We want the people in charge of Sunland Parks

    environment and the health and welfare of its residents who have been concealing

    environmental hazards to be removed from the decision-making process so thathonest people can do their job. It is impossible for Sunland Park residents to get

    due process of law when individuals making the decisions know that if they tell us

    the truth they may go to prison!

    2. We want every agency involved in concealing contamination in our region toCOME CLEAN! We want a complete disclosure. We want to know what theyhave hidden from us, why they hid it, and the name of each person involved.

    3. We want an environmental assessment of our community made byindependent scientists and engineers.

    4. We want to learn what the impact of the contamination has been on the health

    of the people who live and work in Sunland Park.

    5. We want a voice just like you promised in your Environmental Justice

    Executive Order. In order for us to have a voice we are going to need the abilityto be certain that the preceding requests are complied with honestly. This will go

    a long way to restoring the trust of the community that has been so foolishly

    squandered by the individuals who betrayed us.

    Instead of addressing our request to remove conflicted people from the decision-

    making process you turned us over to the individuals who were concealing the

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    contamination problem. You refused to address our evidence because you cannot

    address the evidence.

    Heres what your conduct means: It proves that the people of Sunland Park, El

    Paso and Cd. Juarez are being deliberately sacrificed by public officials on your watch.

    After we handed you our package of proof, you held yourself out to Hispanics as

    a person who they could trust to protect their interest. And you held yourself out to the

    people of the United States as the presidential candidate most concerned about thetroubling environmental questions that plague the planet. Throughout this period you

    concealed the material fact that you were intentionally sacrificing the mostly Hispanic

    population of Sunland Park, El Paso, and Cd. Juarez.

    Attached to this letter you will find an excerpt from the Docketing Statement of

    Luz Vargas In the Matter of the Application of Camino Real Environmental Center Inc.

    for the Renewal and Modification of a Solid Waste Facility Permit for the Camino Real

    Landfill, Appeal No. SWB 07-41(P) which was recently filed in the Court of Appeals forthe State of New Mexico. The Statement of the Case and Facts from the Docketing

    Statement tells the story of what happened to our communities while you were seekinghigher office. It includes references to the sworn testimony and exhibits which were

    filed in that case. It tells a story of trickery, fraud and deceit.

    The testimony of Olga Arguelles, a life-long Sunland Park resident, summedthings up correctly. She was asked, Are you still waiting, Olga, for New Mexico Border

    Health and New Mexico Environmental Department to address the evidence that you

    were walking around with, trying to get an explanation to? She replied, No, Mr.Moore, Ive lost all hope, I have no hope for them to give us any answers, not from

    Richardson, not from NMED, not from Border Health.

    Thats got to change, Governor.

    Very truly yours,

    Sunland Park Grassroots Environmental Group

    ENCLOSURES:

    1. Letter of October 26, 2006 from SPGEG to Governor Richardson

    2. Excerpts from Vargas Docketing Statement