The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) will pay $72,600 in civil penalties and undertake two supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) to address water contamination issues on the Pueblo of Isleta lands.
ABCWUA, which provides water services to over 600,000 residents in the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County area, experienced a significant incident in 2022 when a 48-inch sewer line collapsed. This collapse resulted in the discharge of approximately 6.7 million gallons of untreated wastewater. Of this spill, three million gallons were directed to West Bluff Pond, while 3.7 million gallons reached the Rio Grande River. The spill affected the Pueblo by contaminating the river used for agriculture and cultural practices.
Following this incident, EPA and New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) staff conducted a Sanitary Sewer Overflow inspection with ABCWUA personnel to assess the contamination extent in the Rio Grande River. The EPA collaborated with ABCWUA and the Pueblo to develop two SEPs aimed at addressing water quality concerns within both the Rio Grande and surrounding water infrastructure.
The first SEP involves establishing an E. coli laboratory at the Pueblo’s Natural Resources Department facilities. This lab will generate data to identify ongoing harms caused by the SSO to various water bodies and ecosystems, enabling remediation strategies for long-term impacts.
The second SEP includes five portable advanced water quality monitoring systems equipped with automated alert features. These systems will allow spot-checks and long-term monitoring of several parameters such as dissolved oxygen, nitrates, ammonium, turbidity, and temperature in both the Rio Grande and connected Pueblo water infrastructure.
Supplemental Environmental Projects are voluntary projects undertaken as part of enforcement settlements that provide additional environmental or public health benefits beyond legal compliance requirements. They remain an important component of EPA’s enforcement strategy, contributing to pollution reduction across communities nationwide.
For further details on SEPs and their impact, more information is available online.
