Resident frustrated by City of Sunland Park’s response to noise complaint about vacuum station
SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A noisy sewer vacuum station operated by the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority continues to disrupt residents' lives on both sides of the state line, despite a formal noise complaint and growing frustration from neighbors.
The issue centers on a CRRUA vacuum station situated near the Summer Park neighborhood.
Residents say the noise, which has persisted for months, can be heard at all hours, sometimes from as far as half a mile away.
Laura Madson, who lives on the El Paso side of the border, said she first noticed the noise in the spring, before she said it disappeared. By summer, she said, it returned and grew harder to ignore.
"I spent a lot of time thinking I was crazy because I'm like, it's louder. People would be like, 'I don't even hear it,' and I'm like, 'Yes, you do,' you just don't think you hear it," she said.
"It started to become really problematic when I realized I could hear it inside my own house," Madson added.
She filed a noise complaint through the City of Sunland Park's online system.
"I sent a message through the app. I did get a response, which I did not love," Madson said.
Madson said the city told her that officials conducted a sound test from 300 feet away and did not detect any noise, adding that it was not possible for her to hear the sound from her home.
Standing in her neighborhood about half a mile from the station, Madson said the noise remains audible.
"I am annoyed, but my primary concern is for the people who live down there," she said.
ABC-7 spoke to Sunland Park’s community development director, who said he would review Madson’s complaint after being informed of the issue.
ABC-7 placed multiple follow-up calls to him, and has not yet heard back.
