The polite term for it is “domestic septage.” If it’s in an RV, domestic septic system or port-o-potty, it has to be vacuumed into a tank truck and then taken somewhere.
Talon Septic, located in Elephant Butte, was taking it to the City of T or C’s wastewater treatment plant for nearly three years, which City Manager Gary Whitehead said had been “bad for the system, disrupting its biology.” The city commission granted the use with the understanding Talon would expeditiously seek a discharge permit from the New Mexico Environment Department. It received it March 2025, and although it wasn’t stated during the meeting how far along construction is, Whitehead said Talon hasn’t used the wastewater treatment plant since April 2025.
But Talon is still tying its business to the city. The city commission, at its Feb. 11 meeting, approved Talon’s 30 year lease of seven acres located within its municipal airport property.
The lease will be reviewed every 5 years. The first five years Talon Septic will pay $1,150 a month. The lease amount, as required by law, is tied to the land’s appraisal value. City Manager Gary Whitehead said the consumer price index will be examined for each five-year period and a new monthly rent will be determined for the next five years. Normally city leases can be cancelled without cause with 30 days notice, but Talon’s investment and operation required more secure terms. The city can only cancel “if there is a material breach,” Whitehead said, and if that happened Talon would have a year to clean up the site.
Talon wanted to purchase the property, Whitehead said, making the approach to a prior city manager, but “I determined that would not be in the city’s best interest.” Forming an industrial park for companies like Talon and the propane gas company Cortez would serve the people better, Whitehead said. Companies’ lease payments will boost the airport’s revenue, he said, adding, “We have not formed a monopoly.”
For years the airport has run at about a $250,000 yearly deficit, which is covered by the city’s general fund.
Talon chose the city site because its flat, preventing storm water runoff. The permeable soil will work as an environmental cleanser and filter, safeguarding the groundwater, which is 450 feet down. Because of this depth, the two “settling ponds do not have to have liners,” Whitehead said.
Talon’s discharge permit, as issued by the New Mexico Environment Department’s Groundwater Quality Bureau, does not describe two settling ponds, but rather “nine surface disposal cells” totaling 1.9 acres giving Talon the capacity to receive and discharge up to 600 gallons a day of domestic septage, the permit states.
Within six hours after dumping the septage in the respective cell or cells, they must be “disked,” the permit states, which is another term for plowed. Therefore the sludge will regularly be tilled into the earthen bed of the cell.
The NMED permit states a 24-inch berm must be built around each of the nine cells as well as around the entire facility. To keep rain water from deluging the cells or weakening the berms, a 6-inch “storm water diversion trench” must be built around the facility.
A 6-foot chain-link fence, posted with “keep out” signs for the protection of curious humans and animals must be erected. Vector control for flies, etc., must be undertaken. Exactly how was not specified other than referring the applicant to a section of the Code of Federal Regulations that must be followed.
The NMED discharge permit states Talon has submitted plans to have 3.8 acres of cells total. When the second set of plans are approved, the facility’s capacity will increase, and the permit will allow Talon to receive and discharge 1,200 gallons of septage a day.
Since Talon will plow its sludge into the ground, Whitehead said it will not compete with the city’s sludge program.
“It’s good stuff,” and the city has first dibs on it, Whitehead said. First it will be spread on the city’s golf course and parks and playing fields before it’s offered to the public, ending the sh*t talk with good sh*t.