HEART OF NEW MEXICO. ONE
SPARK AND WOULD BE AN
ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE.
THE STATE'S KNOWN ABOUT
IT AND PROMISED TO DEAL
WITH IT, WHEN WE EXPOSED
IT SIX YEARS AGO. ON
SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT ...
NEWS 13'S CHRIS MCKEE
ASKED THE STATE WHY IT'S
NOT DOING ITS JOB.
26:12 "It's just way too
much trash" IT'S A HUGE
PROPERTY ... WITH A WELL
KNOWN... MESSY HISTORY.
24:23 "Just huge piles
of tires" LINED WITH A
MILE LONG WALL OF
TIRES... THIS
TRASH-RIDDEN LAND JUST
SOUTH OF GRANTS ...
LOOKS LIKE A DUMP.
21:22 "250,000 tires"
25:19 "Junk cars"
25:21 "Trucks, heavy
equipment, boats" 25:24
BUT ALL OF THIS GARBAGE
25:36 "Two or three
appliance dumps" ISN'T A
LOCAL LANDFILL ... IT'S
ONE MAN'S PRIVATE
PROPERTY... AND WHAT THE
STATE CONSIDERS A
HAZARDOUS .. ILLEGAL
DUMP. IT'S ALSO.. ONE
THEY'VE KNOWN ABOUT.
24:23 "Trash everywhere"
BUT WHAT HASN'T
HAPPENED WITH THIS
PROPERTY..
HAS NOW MADE SOME
PEOPLE...
"Right right" ...ANGRY.
36:32 They were going to
WILSON KNOWS THE DUMP
SITE WELL.
26:14 "You could tell
he'd been doing this for
years and years" 26:17 A
VOLUNTEER FIRE CHIEF
ABOUT 35 MILES AWAY IN
RAMAH...
"It's a tanker." WILSON
ALSO USED TO BE AN
INSPECTOR FOR THE NEW
MEXICO ENVIRONMENT
DEPARTMENT.
sound of tires
crunching in gravel
SIX YEARS AGO... HE WAS
PART OF A POSSE OF STATE
INSPECTORS.. WHO TOURED
THE PROPERTY. THE STATE
WAS LOOKING TO MAKE THE
LANDOWNER .. SONNY
SMALL.. CLEAN IT UP.
sound of tire shop A
GRANTS TIRE SHOP TOLD
NEWS 13 IN 2010.. THAT
SMALL WAS GETTING PAID
TO TAKE TIRES FROM SHOPS
AROUND GRANTS.. ON THE
CHEAP. INSTEAD OF PAYING
TO GET
RID OF THEM PROPERLY...
THE STATE SAYS SMALL WAS
DUMPING TIRES HIS LAND.
27:46 "Environmentally,
I could see that that
was a really bad
situation" 27:50 THIS IS
NEWS 13'S VIDEO FROM
2010. THE STATE HAD
MAJOR CONCERNS ABOUT THE
TIRE DUMP TURNING INTO
AN INFERNO.
28:23 "Large amounts of
tires when they catch
on fire, you just can't
put it out, there's
just too much fuel"
28:29 STATE REGULATORS
ALSO FEARED
CONTAMINATION FROM THE
REST OF THE TRASH...
WOULD SEEP INTO THE SOIL
AND GROUND WATER.
26:01 "We saw asbestos
pipes" 26:03 THE HAZARDS
WERE ALL VERY CLEAR
TO THE STATE... BUT
WILSON SAYS HE WAS
CONFIDENT THE
ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT
WOULD FOLLOW THROUGH.
26:31 "I thought you
know, the state is going
to step up and do their
job 26:34 That was
2010." 26:36 THE REALITY
TODAY?? ... IS FAR
DIFFERENT.
whoosh sound
sound of helicopter
SKY NEWS 13 SURVEYED
SONNY SMALL'S PROPERTY
AGAIN THIS MONTH.
TODAY... IT'S ALMOST
UNCHANGED FROM THE WAY
IT WAS SIX YEARS AGO.
ROUGHLY A QUARTER
MILLION TIRES ... ALONG
WITH OTHER TRASH
COVERING THE PROPERTY
... AND THE STATE SAYS
THERE ARE NO PERMITS FOR
ANY OF IT.
37:17 "The New Mexico
Environment Department
hasn't been doing their
job in the western part
of the state" 37:20 THE
ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT
SAYS GROUNDWATER HASN'T
BEEN CONTAMINATED YET ..
BUT A TIRE FIRE COULD
CHANGE THAT ... ALONG
WITH SPEWING A PLUME OF
TOXIC SMOKE INTO GRANTS.
SOMETHING WILSON FEARS
COULD OVERWHELM THE
NEARBY FIREFIGHTERS
CALLED TO PUT OUT.
30:31 "We would
definitely be called" SO
WHY IS THE PROPERTY ..
STILL A MESS? WE TOOK
THAT QUESTION TO THE
STATE. KATHRYN ROBERTS
IS THE DIRECTOR OF
"RESOURCE PROTECTION"--
WHICH OVERSEES SOLID AND
HAZARDOUS WASTE ACROSS
NEW MEXICO.
13:16 "It sounds like
the state was working on
this, and that somewhere
along the way, work sort
of stopped, why did that
happen? 13:23
"I would say you're
absolutely right, that
did occur." 13:27 THE
ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT
ACKNOWLEDGED...
PROPERTY OWNER SONNY
SMALL SUBMITTED TWO
CLEANUP PLANS
BETWEEN 2010 AND 2013
... BUT BOTH WERE
REJECTED.
04:13 "The lead
investigator who took on
the case was forced to
retire in 2013 because
of health issues, since
then, the case has been
passed from
investigator, to
investigator 04:24 but
nothing has ever been
done." 04:26
20:50 Who dropped the
ball here? 20:51
"Well, it's a very good
question" 20:55
20:59 "Do we have some
responsibility here,
yes, we absolutely do,
but what I can say is
that we are working very
dilligently to move
forward" 21:11
THE STATE SAYS ITS ONCE
AGAIN ORDERED SONNY
SMALL TO COME
UP WITH A NEW CLEAN-UP
PLAN. THAT'S DUE NEXT
MONTH. NO
MATTER WHAT COMES OUT OF
IT.. CLEANUP COULD TAKE
YEARS.
19:31 "There's a huge
amount of tires on that
site, and that's going
to take... considerably
more time" 19:37 IT
COULD ALSO COST SMALL A
SMALL FORTUNE --
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF
DOLLARS WHICH THE STATE
ISN'T SURE HE HAS. BUT
THE STATE SAYS SMALL
WILL PAY FOR IT...
AND SO FAR HE'S BEEN
COOPERATIVE.
23:32 "He is the
responsible party and
we're going to hold him
accountable for his
actions" 23:36
sound of car passing
MILES AWAY IN RAMAH...
FIRE CHIEF WILSON HOPES
THIS TIME.. THE
STATE KEEPS ITS PROMISE.
32:48 "They had better
clean it up, OK, they
have to clean it up"
hurting themselves"
38:50
sound of wind
blowing ON SPECIAL
ASSIGNMENT ..
CHRIS MCKEE.. KRQE NEWS
13.
WE ASKED THE STATE IF
TAKING SMALL TO COURT ..
OR TAKING HIS
PROPERTY IS AN OPTION.
THE STATE WOULD ONLY
TELL US
THAT SMALL COULD BE
FINED..
THERE'S A NEW ATTRACTION