Socorro, Horizon Battle Over Wastewater
The Horizon Wastewater Treatment plant is expanding.
A $2.2 million pipe project is almost complete and causing trouble.
Excess irrigation water from the plant would flow through the city of Socorro.
Socorro officials cited Horizon halt the project. But Horizon utility officials say they’ve followed all the rules. Now Horizon is suing.
“It has the potential to harm the people, ” said Socorro Councilman Guillermo Madrid.
He says a project by the Horizon Regional Municipal Utility District needs to be reviewed.
The project would send wastewater from Horizon through Socorro.
Socorro has filed to revoke the utility’s state permit for the project.
“We don’t believe that as part of them issuing the permit that they took into consideration of running the water through an open ditch through the city of Socorro,” said Socorro attorney, Yuri Calderon.
Horizon city officials say this should be a non-issue because the water they’re running is not sewage water, it’s treated waste water or irrigation water.
Even then, Socorro claims the project started up without the city’s knowledge. The Horizon utility explains, it’s been in the works for years.
“We were working on this since 2006 before this administration was ever in office,” said Horizon Utility president, Benny Davis in a phone interview.
Doesn’t matter when it started, Madrid says. Socorro doesn’t want horizon’s runoff, “How would you like water dumped in your water waste? It’s not right,” said Madrid.
Horizon officials say they complied with all state regulations.
ABC-7 checked on that.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, spokeswoman Andrea Morrows told us the Horizon utility received its permit in May 2009.
After two rounds of public notice, any motion to overturn that permit was due 23 days after it was issued.
“Anyone with a sewage treatment plant does that, it’s done all over Texas, all over the United States, so it’s not anything that’s unusual,” said Davis.
Judge Bill Moody will have the final say on the future of the project.
In the meantime, Socorro officials say they’ll file to to revoke the Horizon utility’s permit with the state.
