Reclamation efforts will begin this fall at the Vulcan Materials Plant in Placitas as Vulcan prepares to halt operations at the gravel mine by the summer of 2026 with full closure expected by 2027, following a 2016 lawsuit settlement agreement with Sandoval County.
According to George Franzen, president of the Eastern Sandoval Citizens Association (ESCA), land reclamation on the property, owned by Mt. Adams Holdings, LLC, is set to begin this month. The work will be carried out by Albuquerque-based Franklin’s Earthmoving Inc.
“From the very beginning, I think [ESCA has] been very happy because the whole purpose of getting that agreement was to get a hard and fast deadline on the closure of the mine,” Franzen said.
Residents welcomed the clear timeline for the mine’s closure, which was a response to Vulcan’s alleged failures in managing dust control and adhering to environmental regulations. Community members, including retired sediment and erosion control specialist Lance Voss, have expressed frustration over these issues.
Franzen said about a dozen homes are located within 100 feet of the Vulcan Materials Plant property line, formerly the Lafarge mine. To mitigate noise, a 10-foot berm was installed as specified by the agreement, which was expected to provide some relief.
“They built some berms up here to block the vision into their work, which they were supposed to do, but they didn’t do any of it right,” Voss said. He has highlighted years of complaints about inadequate dust control and persistent dust problems.
The settlement agreement, involving Sandoval County, Vulcan Materials Company, Mt. Adams Holdings and ESCA, addressed the future of the mining site. Mt. Adams Holdings, a conglomerate with ties to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, declined to comment on its plans for the property after mining operations end in 2027.
The reclamation process
The agreement specified that the reclamation process would be divided into four areas, each with its own timeline. These efforts must meet county, state and federal standards, as well as Sandoval County zoning requirements. The reclamation of all four areas must be completed within nine years and nine months of the effective date of the settlement, August 2017.
Franzen said an arroyo running through the center of the mining property divides the reclamation areas. Mining has been completed south of the arroyo, and reclamation for that area is scheduled to start this month, with completion expected in seven to eight months.
The reclamation will include revegetating the area with self-seeding, long-lasting native species. The settlement mandates replacing any plants that die or fail to establish within two years, aiming for at least 80% vegetation coverage within two seasonal cycles from planting.
When asked about the future use of the land, Franzen said he would like it to stay as close to what Placitas is from the village to the highway, with individual homes on at least an acre of land and without multi-unit or commercial buildings.