Valley Meat horse slaughter water discharge permit hearing set for Oct. 22

A Pet Examiner article reports:

The State of New Mexico Environment Department on Friday set a public hearing for a water-discharge permit denied a horse slaughter plant, Valley Meat Company, in July.

According to the webpage Citizens Against Equine Slaughter, the hearing will take place on Tuesday, October 22, 2013, 9:00 a.m., at the Chaves County Courthouse, 400 N. Virginia, in Roswell.

The hearing will discuss the Discharge Permit Application for Valley Meat Company. Owner, Mr. De Los Santos proposes to renew the Discharge Permit for the discharge of up to 8,000 gallons per day of horse processing waste water from the horse slaughterhouse. Discussed will be the potential of ground water contamination which includes nitrogen compounds.

A July 11 letter from the Environmental Department of New Mexico brings attention to another legal aspect citizens against the permit expressed. Numerous public comments raised concern about De Los Santos “possible misrepresentations of criminal charges.”

“Specifically Section 74-6-5 (E) (4) requires that if an “applicant” has, within the last ten (10) years received a felony charge or one constitution moral turpitude the Department must deny the application.”

In a New York Times article Mr. De Los Santos’ attorney A. Blair Dunn stated the advocacy group erroneously described criminal trespassing as a felony. In December 2011, the first application filled out by Mr. De Los Santos stated “none” in the section about felony convictions. The second application filled out in March 2012 had no notations of any convictions, however the third application was filled out with two convictions; one for criminal trespass in Texas in 1988 and the other for residential burglary there in 1978.

“Court records show that Mr. De Los Santos was arrested by the Amarillo police department on Sept. 11, 1989 — his third U.S.D.A. application reported the incident occurring a year earlier — on suspicion of criminal trespass but charged only with a moving violation and convicted of that offense.

“He was arrested on Aug. 28, 1978, in Dallam County, Tex., charged with residential burglary and convicted…

Mr. Wagman, the lawyer for Front Range, contended that Mr. De Los Santos now has committed a third felony by improperly filling out his first two applications. Under federal law, it is a felony to knowingly falsify, conceal or materially misrepresent facts submitted on a federal application.”