Environment Department To Fight Asphalt Plant

SANTA FE (AP) – The state Environment Department plans to defend a 1996 settlement banning an Alamogordo company from operating an asphalt plant at nearby La Luz.

The department says the settlement between the agency, La Luz residents, Alamogordo and Mesa Verde Enterprises stipulates that the company cannot operate an asphalt plant at La Luz.

The company last September sued to void the agreement.

The Environment Department contends the agreement constitutes a contract.

Mesa Verde currently mines gravel on a 160-acre site in La Luz adjacent to an elementary school.

A hearing in Alamogordo last week to take comments on the bid to reverse the settlement drew 150 people.

Many spoke against an asphalt plant.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) AP-NY-06-21-06 1846EDT