Las Cruces, N.M.-Helena Chemical Co. officials have confirmed the filing of a lawsuit in state district court against residents who are suing over what they claim are health problems caused by the company’s fertilizer warehouse located in the community of Mesquite. Helena spokeswoman Linda Lockett told Green Markets the lawsuit was filed in Third District Court in Las Cruces and will be heard by Chief Judge Jerald Valentine. “I don’t have a copy of the suit,” Lockett reported, “but Helena isn’t commenting on this litigation.” Press reports say that the suit accuses the executive director of the Mesquite Community Action Committee, Arturo Uribe, of libel and slander, naming Uribe, his wife, and their attorney, and claiming that a number of false statements injured the company’s reputation and good standing in the community. One report stated that the Helena suit seeks more than $25,000 and attempts to delve into the personal lives of Uribe and his wife. The Uribes have been very vocal in their criticism of the Helena operations and timed their announcement of their suit to coincide with Helena’s opening its Mesquite plant to public inspection and holding a community meeting in October regarding its environmental efforts. A number of residents of Mesquite and LaMesa joined the Uribes in the lawsuit at that time, alleging that negligence by Helena’s fertilizer blending operations has caused people, including the Uribe’s children, to suffer from severe respiratory problems requiring hospitalization. Helena also has engaged in an ongoing feud with the New Mexico environmental department, which recently assessed the Mesquite facility with a $279,000 fine, charging 11 violations of the state’s air quality regulations. Helena has claimed that the Mesquite plant no longer requires a state air quality permit, a statement that state environmental officials say is nonsense.
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