Diocese’s downtown property marred by contamination By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola Gallup Independent correspondent religion@gallupindependent.com Sept. 9, 2015 GALLUP – Past environmental damage may sabotage the sale of one of the Diocese of Gallup’s commercial properties slated for auction later this month. As part of its bankruptcy case, the Gallup Diocese has agreed to auction off a number of parcels of real property in Arizona Sept. 12, and New Mexico Sept. 19. One of the Gallup properties scheduled to be sold is a vacant lot on the northwest corner of Aztec Avenue and Fourth Street, currently being rented by the city of Gallup as a parking lot for municipal vehicles. During a recent downtown revitalization workshop, community members raised the idea of the city purchasing the property as a site for a multi-floor library with an underground parking garage. However, reports recently obtained by the city indicate the property sustained soil and groundwater contamination from underground storage tanks belonging to a service station once located on the site. That environmental damage, which has not been fully remediated, may cause potential buyers to think twice about purchasing the downtown lot. Environmental report “Because of the environmental problems and alternative options open to the city of Gallup, City Council has instructed us not pursue it further,” City Attorney George Kozeliski said in an email Aug. 31. Kozeliski said the city had been researching a possible purchase of the property. Kozeliski was contacted about the terms of the city’s lease agreement with the Diocese of Gallup and was asked for documents regarding environmental damage to the property. Kozeliski and City Clerk Alfred Abeita provided a copy of the lease agreement, and Kozeliski also provided a copy of the inspection of public records request he submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department Aug. 25. The lease agreement, signed by Bishop James S. Wall and former City Manager Dan Dible in July 2012, acknowledged the property was once the site of a service station and had soil contamination, and stated the diocese was working with state officials regarding remediation efforts. On Sept. 1, Kozeliski confirmed documents about the environmental damage and cleanup efforts had just arrived from the state and from attorneys for the Diocese of Gallup, and he made those documents available for inspection. The most recent quarterly groundwater monitoring report, dated June 14, was prepared for the New Mexico Environment Department’s Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau by Advanced Corrosion and Environmental Services of Farmington. The report refers to the property as the Downtown Conoco Site at 400 W. Aztec Ave., while in U.S. Bankruptcy Court documents the property is listed as Item 38, Parcel No. 2-106-088-088-110, and is referred to as Ralph’s Shell Station. Reduced contamination According to the report, the good news is contamination at the site has seen a “huge reduction” over the past six years. The bad news is some contamination still exists, particularly in one section of the property, and ongoing monitoring and remediation efforts are recommended. The initial hydrocarbon release that caused the contamination is believed to date back to 1989 or earlier. The service station’s three underground storage tanks were the source of the contamination. After the initial environmental investigation, groundwater monitoring wells were installed on the property. In addition, a major corrective action took place in August 2006, when 2,500 cubic yards of hydrocarbon contaminated soil was removed from the site. The report states recent groundwater monitoring shows the “cleanup of the groundwater was achieved in the center of the soil excavation area but one small area continues to show elevated dissolved hydrocarbon contamination” near where the old underground storage tanks were located. The report also noted there was an increase in hydrocarbon concentration levels in the groundwater during the most recent testing, and it attributed this to “the rise of the water table to a level that old soil contamination in the subsurface is encountered.” “Overall the hydrocarbon plume at this site has been reducing as a result of ongoing natural processes such as contaminant dispersion effects and the natural attenuation activities,” the report concluded. However, in the property section that continues to be contaminated, the report recommended additional investigation and possible installation of an active remediation system. Unpublicized damage According to the report, local businessman Joe DiGregorio owned the service station, and he and the diocese receive copies of the environmental monitoring reports. Soon after the Diocese of Gallup filed for bankruptcy in November 2013, the diocese included DiGregorio’s name in a court document as someone it might have a claim against. To date, the diocese has not filed any such claim against DiGregorio in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. DiGregorio did not respond to an email requesting comment. The Diocese of Gallup has not publicized the property’s environmental damage in its auction marketing efforts nor has it included any information about the contamination in any of the auction documents filed with the court. Todd Good, whose company Accelerated Marketing Group is publicizing the upcoming property auctions, did not return phone messages Tuesday. Lyn Carter, chief investigator for the New Mexico Real Estate Commission, said state law generally requires sellers to disclose environmental damage to potential buyers. However, when property is sold in auctions, he said, the requirements sometimes vary depending on the auction circumstances. “It gets a little murky,” Carter said, explaining some property auctions are public, others are private, some feature voluntary sales and others are forced by foreclosure or bankruptcy. All buyers should do their own due diligence, he added, and research property before purchasing it.

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