A bridge spans the Rio Grande between Texas and New Mexico on September 9, 2021. More than 1.1 billion gallons of untreated sewage was pumped into the Rio Grande by El Paso Water after a series of main breaks in August 2021. (Photo Danielle Prokop / Source NM)

The fight between Texas and New Mexico over the sewage spill of more than 1 billion gallons into the Rio Grande near Sunland Park is over.

A federal district court judge in Texas approved a settlement last week with New Mexico environmental officials, dropping a $1.2 million fine against El Paso Water Utility.

The Aug. 6th ruling from Western District of Texas Judge David Briones officially dismissed the case, which resulted with both parties agreeing to pay for their own costs and attorney fees.

The fine from New Mexico environment officials stemmed after a catastrophic break in two sewage mains in August 2021. El Paso Water said the utility’s only option was to divert an eventual 1 billion gallons of untreated sewage into the Rio Grande near Sunland Park, N.M. over five months.

The Rio Grande, which acts as both the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico, also meanders across the Texas and New Mexico state lines in that reach.

Officials with the New Mexico Environment Department filed two enforcement actions, including the $1.2 million fine in June 2022, saying the spill posed threats to New Mexico’s health and environment. El Paso Water called the accusations “false and misleading” at the time, and pointed to environmental reviews the utility commissioned finding no wildlife harmed by the spill.

Now, New Mexico is dropping the case against El Paso Water altogether.

State environment agency attorneys determined there was no chance the case would succeed, said Drew Goretzka, a spokesperson for the agency.

“The people of Sunland Park were heavily impacted by the over billion gallons of sewage released by El Paso Water,  that’s why we filed this case” Goretzka said. “However, after evaluating its legal merits, we’ve decided to withdraw it.”

There is no expectation that the New Mexico Environment Department will appeal.

Texas environmental officials fined the El Paso utility just over $2 million dollars for the spill, but allowed for it to go towards the estimated $7 million spent on cleanup, according to a September 2023 settlement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

In a press release from El Paso Water, the utility will provide New Mexico environmental officials with information, documents and materials from the spill, in exchange for the dismissal for the fine.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – If you’ve been to Presbyterian hospital downtown, you’ve seen the empty lots across from it. They’ve been sitting that way for decades. 

The Springhill Suites hotel went up on the corner a few years ago in the first phase of a massive project called The Highlands.

Now, with one vote of approval from Albuquerque city councilors, we could see progress continue on that part of Central.

“People love food halls. They like the variety,” said Terry Brunner, director of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency. 

It’s one of the next steps in the multiphase The Highlands Project.

“They are filling in vacant spaces, vacant lots with no buildings on them, and really providing an economic development opportunity for that part of Central,” said Brunner. 

The Springhill Suites opened in 2021. The next phases include a food hall market, a long-term residence for hospital workers on assignment or family of hospital patients, and an apartment complex.

“It really will get a lot more people out into that area. That’s why they need the food hall is they should have people staying in that long-term stay area, people that are at the hospital now have dining options and things like that. So it should amplify the activity in that area,” Brunner said.

Brunner says this is the kind of growth Albuquerque needs in historically blighted areas. 

“You had some older buildings, not much in a commercial way, or hotels or anything in that area for 20 plus years. And so it’s nice to have somebody take the opportunity to redevelop it,” said Brunner. 

Brunner believes finances and interest rates have played a role in the timeline for the local developer on the project. 

City councilors could make that aspect easier for them with the approval of tax abatement at an upcoming meeting.

“It just means they won’t be reassessed. It means that the assessor can’t come in and now assess that property as if there was a large building on it,” said Brunner. 

Brunner says that break will save this local developer about a million dollars. 

“Because we will freeze the taxes at the level they’re at for seven years, which gives them a lot more revenue or a lot more cash, in a sense, on the front end of the development. They’re not paying an increased property tax because there’s a new facility on that property,” Brunner said. 

Incentivizing one project for the sake of the whole area. 

“This whole corridor down Central from the University of downtown, we hope is changing and for the better,” said Brunner.