Rebuttal to earlier editorial on SB 111

Category: Editorials Editorials
Published: 31 January 2024 31 January 2024

Your Op-ed on SB 111 published on 26 January, 2024 begs for clarification.

SB 111 specified money and purpose. The purpose is to fund the following as specified in the bill:

"(1) protect water in the state through additional monitoring and enforcement of existing regulations;
and
(2) conduct additional mapping to better understand how changes to the federal Clean Water Act of 1977 affect water in the state."

How is this to be viewed as "the most extreme water restrictions and regulations on miners, farmers, ranchers and private property owners" as you claim? The laws are already on the books. This is merely additional modest funding to insure the laws are being followed.

Yes, mining and agriculture play a very important role for many citizens in the local economy. How does insuring the good quality of water adversely affect health and well-being of those citizens? What happens to these people when an aquifer is poisoned by industrial runoff or a farmer's well becomes unsafe due to excessive nitrate infiltration? Many pollutants adverse to human health are natural in our state, such as arsenic, manganese and sulfates. Should we just not check for these because of some misplaced notion of "government overreach"? I think not.

And who are the mysterious "outside influences" that Ramos says are negatively influencing the livelihood and well-being of local citizens? If he was alluding to GRIP, then he should know this LOCAL organization has been active since 1998. GRIP is LOCAL influences.

Sincerely,
Dennis Nendza
Silver City, NM

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.