Enviros: Dairies Had In With Gov.; Martinez's Office Says Claim by Environmental Lawyers Not True

Dairy industry attorneys helped draft a Martinez administration directive that would have stalled stricter dairy groundwater protection rules, environmental group attorneys charged in a document filed this week with the New Mexico Supreme Court.

A spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez denied the allegation, saying the directive, issued moments after she took office Jan. 1, was drafted by her transition staff without dairy industry help.The directive halted formal legal publication of a number of state regulations, temporarily preventing them from going into effect. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled the directive invalid and ordered the rules' publication to proceed. The dairy industry has filed a separate action before the New Mexico Court of Appeals that would delay their implementation while the court considers the issue.

The back-and-forth comes after a two-year state process to clarify regulations for protecting New Mexico groundwater from dairy waste.

Dairies are found throughout New Mexico, but are especially concentrated in the southeastern part of the state, where growth of industrial dairy operations has made it the largest sector of the state's agricultural economy, according to a study by University of New Mexico law professor Denise Fort.

The state Environment Department says groundwater beneath 57 percent of the state's 168 current and former dairies is contaminated in excess of safe drinking water standards.

Among other things, the new regulations would require plastic liners at all new or replacement dairy waste ponds. The industry argues that those liners are costly and ineffective.

Attorneys at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center say a Jan. 12 e-mail from dairy lobbyist Walter Bradley to Martinez's deputy chief of staff Brian Moore suggests that the industry had the inside track as the executive order delaying the regulations was being prepared.

"Our attorneys (for the Dairy Group) Dal Moellenberg and TJ Trujillo of Gallagher & Kennedy drafted some language for the ex. order," Bradley wrote. In the e-mail, Bradley offered the industry's legal help in defending the state against a subsequent lawsuit filed by attorneys at the Environmental Law Center.

Bradley, a former lieutenant governor, said in an interview that the dairy industry learned in December that Martinez was considering delaying a number of new rules developed in the waning days of Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson's administration, including those covering dairies.

The industry's attorneys sent the transition team a memo outlining the legal issues involved, Bradley said.

Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said the input from the dairy industry lawyers was never used.

"The claim that the dairy industry helped draft language for the executive order is incorrect and they are simply mistaken," Darnell said in a statement.

"While the dairy industry did voice concerns about regulations, offered suggestions to help address these issues and made their lawyers available to the transition team, none of these offers were ever accepted or even seen by those responsible for drafting the executive order."

The e-mail was one of several obtained by the Environmental Law Center under a state public records act request.

The e-mails also include a Jan. 7 message from Moore to Bradley asking advice: "Legal counsel told me last night that all rules that were not published as of 12/31, are not in effect at this time," Moore wrote. "I think that's probably good news for dairy producers. Any ideas what we do next?"

Jon Block, an attorney at the Environmental Law Center, said the e-mails show that the dairy industry had access to the Martinez transition team and administration that the environmental community was denied.

Dairy farmers gave Republican Martinez more than $70,000 in campaign contributions for last year's campaign, while Democrat Diane Denish received $6,000 according to the candidates' campaign finance filings.

Block charged that dairy campaign contributions had given the industry access that was denied to his clients.

Bradley denied the charge that campaign contributions had anything to do with dairy industry access. "Give me a break," he said in a telephone interview Thursday. "That's a lame argument."