LAS CRUCES, N.M. —
A federal lawsuit against the United States, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau over contaminated groundwater has been filed by the city of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County.
The complaint was filed Wednesday and in it, the city and county claim that the federal government is responsible for the contaminated groundwater of a former National Guard Armory on the northeast corner of East Hadley Avenue and North Solano Drive in Las Cruces.
The lawsuit states that hazardous substances were released during the operation of the armory and that the substances created a plume of contaminated groundwater that was about 1.8 miles long and half a mile wide.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency designated the area a federal superfund site, known as the Griggs & Walnut Ground Water Plume.
The city and county have worked to investigate and clean up the contamination, sharing the costs and negotiations with the EPA and the New Mexico Environmental Department.
A treatment plant constructed by the city and county went up on July 2013 and is expected to treat an estimated 6.82 to 9.42 billion of contaminated drinking water over the next 15 to 20 years, officials said.
Now, the city and county want the federal government to help with the ongoing costs of the cleanup and want to recover money already spent to build and operate the treatment plant.