By Martin Salazar, Journal Staff Writer

VELARDE - Expressing outrage over the state Land Office's handling of a sand and gravel mine here, former state Land Commissioner Ray Powell hinted that he'd likely run for his old post and pledged to do everything in his power to make things right for the community.

"What has been done is wrong. There's no ifs, ands or buts, and what needs to happen is that the wrong needs to be corrected, and this area needs to be made whole," Powell told a group of nearly four dozen concerned community members at a community meeting Tuesday.

"I will do everything in my power with my voice to say this is wrong. It needs to be corrected, and the people responsible need to be held accountable," said Powell, who held the land commissioner post for 10 years. After the meeting, Powell, a Democrat, said it was "a high probability" that he'd run for his old post next year.

Powell left the Land Office in late 2002 because of term limits and was succeeded by Patrick Lyons, a Republican. Powell--who resigned as executive director of the Valles Caldera Trust earlier this month--told the crowd that, ultimately, the land commissioner is responsible for everything that happens in that office. He said when he was land commissioner he saw to it that communities had a say in what was happening with trust lands located in their backyards.

Despite being invited to Tuesday's meeting, Land Office officials did not attend. But Kristin Haase, a spokeswoman for the Land Office, said Lyons was merely trying to fix a bad situation in Velarde.

"Ray Powell was land commissioner for 10 years and ignored the situation," she said when informed of Powell's remarks. "It's interesting now that he needs a job he's suddenly interested in what's going on in Velarde."

At issue is a lease awarded to Santa Fe-based Coppola Mining to mine sand and gravel from the state trust land situated in Velarde. The Land Office has said the lease generates money for state schools and was needed to eliminate a dangerous highwall, or cliff, that exists.

The 150-foot highwall was created when Española businessman Richard Cook decided to mine his part of the property that abuts state trust lands. Powell was land commissioner at the time and filed a civil lawsuit to force Cook to take responsibility for the damage.

But Lyons dropped the civil suit in June 2004 and announced that he had decided to take care of the highwall by awarding a lease to mine the neighboring trust lands.

Critics complain that the dust, noise and mining activity itself has harmed the community. They say that the highwall was just an excuse to open the site to mining, given the fact that more than a year has passed since the contract was awarded and little work has been done to bring it down.

Several Velarde residents and Vecinos del Rio, a community group, filed suit last year, arguing that the lease was illegal and asking a judge to toss it out. Months of mediation between the Land Office and the plaintiffs have proved fruitless, and a hearing on the issues is slated for Oct. 7 in Santa Fe's state district court.

At Tuesday's meeting, a number of the people in attendance called the mining inappropriate and said residents need to continue to fight to stop it.

Steven Rudy, a member of Vecinos del Rio, said the group understands that the mining of sand and gravel is a necessity. But, he added, the group objects to it being done "in the heart of the community."

"We want them to remediate the highwall to where it's no longer a hazard and danger, and we want them to leave," Rudy said.

El Prado attorney Connie Odé, who is representing the plaintiffs in the suit, expressed disappointment that the mediation had failed to resolve the issue.

"None of us wants to be in court," she said. But, Odé added, "The bottom line is absent a lawsuit .. nothing is going to happen."

Angelina Valdez, a lifelong resident of Velarde, told her neighbors that they all need to stand together and be vocal about their opposition to the mine.