The industrial sand-mining project approved for a parcel along U.S. Highway 550 in Bloomfield looks far different today than the facility B8D LLC pitched to residents and city officials.
Brock Brockinton, a principal with B8D LLC, appeared before the Bloomfield City Council in late 2024 and early 2025 to request a zoning change from agricultural to industrial so that the company could mine and sell frack sand at the site.
B8D held two town hall meetings to outline its plans, but despite strong public opposition, the council approved the zoning change on Feb. 3, 2025. By then, the company had already begun significant site-grading work.
Now, more than a year after a zoning change, the site remains in flux as the company deals with equipment delays, water-rights issues and design revisions that have left the facility far from the original rendering.
What happened?
Brockinton says such challenges are typical for new operations.
“Anytime you start up this type of operation in a new environment, a new deposit, there’s going to be some growing pains,” Brockinton said recently. “We certainly have experienced our fair share of that.”
“One hold-up was a delay in getting additional equipment needed to separate the clay from the water used to produce the sand. We ordered additional equipment to get the clay material into a state where we can handle it,” he said. The water-clarifying equipment was ordered eight to 10 months ago and took that long to be manufactured and shipped.
The artist’s rendering shows one large water-holding area and a large tank behind the frack sand loading facility. The goal is to recirculate water so it is reused rather than constantly pulling new water. Right now, there are four separate water-holding areas. Recently, three large tanks were delivered on site, replacing the one big tank shown in the rendering.
“In reality, you can take a set of engineered plans, but once you get to the actual application to the materials you’re trying to process, there are things that have to be adjusted and changed,” he said. “We’ve made several large changes to our process.”
The facility closed in November and December to implement necessary changes. “The movement and management of water has been so that we could try to recirculate the water.”
B8D had to create a new water-holding area to let the clay settle and allow the water to rise to the top so it could be sucked out and reused, he said.
Water was a major issue of concern for local residents because of the area’s propensity for drought. Although the parcel came with agricultural water rights, those rights must be changed to industrial rights, which would significantly limit the amount of water available to the site. The change has not yet happened.
In the meantime, Brockinton said B8D has been “very intermittently” pulling water from the ditch and paying the city of Bloomfield for that water.
The Office of the State Engineer oversees the administration, supervision and measurement of all water in New Mexico. Shawn Williams, manager of San Juan Basin District 5, said the change in water use has not yet been implemented. “We met with them (B8D) and worked on a draft application, and they were supposed to get back to us, but it has not yet been filed,” Williams said.
“Once the application has been filed with us, the time frame to get that approved would probably be about eight months,” Williams said. “In the meantime, they’re purchasing raw water from the city of Bloomfield.” Williams said the facility is not drawing agricultural water that came with the property.
Brockinton said the delay in applying for the change in any water rights has to do with the company’s planned donation of a portion of land to the city of Bloomfield for use as a reservoir, which could require another change in water use. Discussions are ongoing to determine the best approach.
Brockinton said that now that the necessary water-clarifying equipment has arrived, the company hopes to get back on track with its original development schedule. The next phase will be to continue that work, clean up the water-holding areas in the back so the site will begin to resemble what B8D originally planned.
Once that is complete, B8D will begin evaluating the surveying and preparation needed for Bloomfield to build the water reservoir on the land the company intends to donate.
B8D sand product is currently being sold and shipped mostly to the north and south, he said. The company employs between 40 and 44 people on site, slightly more than originally anticipated.
