Rio Rancho residents packed a Nov. 13 city council meeting to voice sharp divisions over a resolution that would provide water services to a controversial hypersonic missile manufacturing facility, with speakers citing both national security imperatives and environmental risks.
The resolution, which authorizes the city manager to negotiate water and potentially wastewater services for Castelion’s Project Ranger facility, represents an exception to Rio Rancho’s longstanding policy against providing utilities outside city limits.
Four days after the meeting, on Nov. 17, California-based Castelion officially announced it had selected Sandoval County for the 1,000-acre manufacturing campus, which will be located about 3 miles west of Rio Rancho city limits on unincorporated county land.
The facility is projected to generate more than $650 million in economic output over the next decade and create more than 300 jobs with average salaries of $100,000, according to the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
Safety and environmental concerns
Several residents raised an alarm about potential risks to public health and the environment. Steven Van Horn noted that KRQE had announced just hours before the meeting that a toxic chromium plume from Los Alamos National Laboratory had spread to Pueblo land, with contamination levels exceeding state groundwater standards.
“This plant is going to be near three of our wells, transporting stuff that has no limitation on transport,” Van Horn said, warning of flood risks and water contamination.
Michael Farrell submitted a detailed written comment opposing the resolutions, arguing that Sandoval County advanced the project on county land while asking the city to fund access roads and deliver water without a guaranteed tax base or annexation. He said the move would break Rio Rancho’s policy since 2009 of limiting water and wastewater service to inside city boundaries.
Farrell expressed concern about water usage, citing a presentation from an Oct. 21 public meeting that indicated the facility would use water equivalent to approximately 50 households, or nearly 8 million gallons of water annually.
He also noted that the city dissolved its Utilities Commission in 2017, removing what he called “the public’s most technically qualified watchdog over major water and infrastructure decisions.”
Elaine Cimino filed a 10-page written objection citing procedural defects in the approval process and concerns about ammonium perchlorate, a toxic oxidizer used in rocket motors that can contaminate groundwater. She said no baseline groundwater, air or soil testing had been conducted before approval.
Cimino also raised concerns about impacts on mortgage insurance, noting that roughly 24 percent of Rio Rancho homeowners hold FHA-insured mortgages and could face rate increases of 20 to 100 percent if the area is reclassified as a high-fire-risk zone. She cited a wildfire report estimating potential public losses between $515 million and $2.5 billion from a wildfire or detonation incident.
“This project operates without active federal, state, or municipal oversight, relying instead on self-certification by a private weapons manufacturer,” Cimino wrote.
Connie Hoffman, a resident of Nicklaus Drive SE, said the facility is too close to residential areas and expressed concerns about unknown impacts on land, air and water supply.
“This belongs somewhere else, farther away from civilization,” Hoffman wrote. “I love the sunsets, the weather, the safe feeling — this will not be the same if this is allowed to go forward.”
Zachary Darden, a Bernalillo County Open Space employee who lives in Rio Rancho, questioned the impacts on property owners in the area and raised concerns about national security, given the facility’s proximity to Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base.
Technical documents reviewed by the Sandoval Signpost in October showed that emergency explosion scenarios could affect structures up to 5 miles away, with 5,933 buildings and structures within that radius. The site sits 2.9 miles from Rio Rancho’s Northern Meadows neighborhood.
National security arguments
Supporters framed the project as critical to U.S. defense capabilities. State Sen. and Rio Rancho resident Jay Block, a retired Air Force officer and combat veteran with experience in missile operations, compared the current situation to the Sputnik moment of 1957.
“Our country is severely, significantly falling behind the Chinese and the Russians,” Block said. “You, as counselors and leaders of our great city, have an opportunity to make sure that Rio Rancho plays a critical and crucial role in our national security.”
Block praised Castelion’s aerospace team as “the finest” he had seen in 30 years in the military and aerospace industry.
Economic development push
Economic development advocates emphasized the potential for job creation and tax revenue. Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Schalow noted that Rio Rancho’s median income has increased from $54,000 to $85,000 since the last census, partly due to residents who work at Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratories and in Santa Fe.
“We lose revenue, GRT dollars, tax dollars every day because we send it to Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Albuquerque,” Shallow said. “This creates the opportunity to bring that right here.”
Ron Bohannon, a professional engineer whose family has lived in the area for 65 years, said the project sits 1,000 feet above groundwater, minimizing contamination risks. He compared the opportunity to Bill Gates starting Microsoft in Albuquerque in the early 1970s.
Government support
Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson and other county officials attended the meeting to offer support and answer questions about safety and infrastructure.
The county and state approved a $10 million incentive package in October, with $5 million from the state, $4 million from Sandoval County and $1 million from Rio Rancho. Officials have said the agreement includes clawback provisions if the company doesn’t meet job creation and safety benchmarks.
Rio Rancho previously approved its portion of funding contingent on a memorandum of understanding establishing which agency has jurisdiction over emergency response.
Procedural concerns
Cimino’s written comment alleged multiple procedural violations in the approval process, including what she described as back-dating of the intergovernmental agreement between the city and county.
She noted that Sandoval County approved the agreement on Oct. 22, with an effective date of Nov. 1, even though the Rio Rancho City Council was not scheduled to vote on it until Nov. 13.
“This creates a chronological impossibility — an agreement cannot take effect before one of the contracting parties lawfully adopts it,” Cimino wrote.
She also alleged violations of the state’s Open Meetings Act, claiming that three lease agreements were added to a county agenda less than 24 hours before a vote in September, and that the company’s identity was withheld from the public until after county bonds were announced.
Farrell noted that the March city elections are approaching and said the Nov. 13 vote would have “enormous implications.”
“We’ve already seen how Sandoval County commissioners failed residents by fast-tracking this project without adequate notice, safeguards, or accountability — and voters will remember that,” Farrell wrote.
Castelion expects to break ground in early 2026. The company has stated that no missiles will be launched from the site and no chemical synthesis will occur on-site, with flight testing to be conducted at Department of Defense ranges or other approved facilities.
Rio Rancho government always chooses profit over people. But, Rio Rancho is MAGA and this is who MAGA is.
Okay, now explain why the democrats on the sandoval county commission voted for this – are they “MAGA” as well?
What Wayne Johnson and Ron Bohannon Didn’t Say — and Why Residents Should Be Alarmed
The Sandoval Signpost’s coverage of the Nov. 13 Rio Rancho City Council meeting makes one thing unmistakably clear: residents are asking serious, science-based questions — and officials are responding with talking points, not answers.
As someone who submitted a detailed written objection, I want to directly address the misleading or incomplete claims made by Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson and contractor Ron Bohannon, whose firm stands to profit from building the Castelion site.
Their assurances leave out critical facts that every resident deserves to know.
1. “It’s safe — the site is 1,000 feet above groundwater.”
— Ron Bohannon
This talking point is false, incomplete, and irrelevant to actual risk.
First, being “1,000 feet above groundwater” does nothing to prevent contamination in the event of chemical spills, explosive residue, perchlorate leaks, runoff, or flood-borne dispersal — all well-documented risks with ammonium perchlorate and composite propellant facilities.
Second, Bohannon omits the most important fact:
➡️ No baseline groundwater, air, soil, or wildfire studies were performed before approval.
You cannot claim “minimal risk” when you have not established the current environmental conditions.
Third, he ignores decades of research from EPA, NOAA, and the DoD itself: perchlorate from rocket motor facilities migrates laterally, not downward, in arid soils — meaning it can travel through the top layers of the aquifer system and contaminate shallow or intermediate wells.
Rio Rancho and Sandoval County wells are down-gradient, and the site is located in an area identified by scientists as prone to both ephemeral flood events and high-velocity wind dispersion.
For someone who stands to make money building the project, Bohannon’s “it’s all fine” claim is not only unscientific — it’s self-serving.
2. “The county and state have oversight, and the process was transparent.”
— Wayne Johnson
Absolutely not.
Wayne Johnson continues to repeat a narrative that falls apart under even basic scrutiny:
✔ No public hearing before the LEDA vote — required by law.
They skipped the mandatory hearing and replaced it with an “approval hearing,” which is not legally equivalent.
✔ Key documents — including the Sandia commentary — were withheld from the public.
This commentary explicitly admits it is not a safety review and that Sandia has a partnership role with Castelion — an obvious conflict of interest.
✔ Three lease agreements were added to a county agenda less than 24 hours before the vote.
A textbook Open Meetings Act violation.
✔ The intergovernmental agreement (IGA) was back-dated.
Sandoval County approved it on Oct. 22 with an effective date of Nov. 1 — before the City of Rio Rancho ever voted on it.
This is legally impossible.
It is void ab initio — invalid from the beginning.
✔ No environmental, wildfire, flood, or hydrology studies were completed.
They rushed to approve the money first, and worry about hazards later.
✔ They approved a detonation and hypersonic rocket motor plant during an extreme drought and record wind conditions.
Rio Rancho sits in one of the highest wildfire-risk corridors in the state.
A single spark event could ignite the entire West Mesa.
Yet Johnson insists everything is fine — because the county’s political narrative depends on pretending the process was lawful and thorough.
3. “This is a huge economic opportunity.”
Supporters talk endlessly about jobs and economic output, but none of them address the cost burdens that will fall on residents:
🔥 24% of Rio Rancho homeowners have FHA-insured mortgages.
If the area is reclassified as high-fire-risk — which it will be — mortgage insurance can increase 20–100%.
🔥 Wildfire modeling estimates between $515 million and $2.5 billion in potential public losses.
Not one agency has explained who pays when this goes wrong.
🔥 No annexation means no guaranteed tax base, yet the city is being asked to supply water.
Residents take all the risk.
Castelion gets all the benefits.
🔥 Rio Rancho dissolved its Utilities Commission in 2017.
There is no independent watchdog left to evaluate water draws, wastewater impacts, or infrastructure stress.
Officials aren’t asking “Is this safe?” — they’re asking “How fast can we approve it?”
4. The Real Story: This Was Rushed to Avoid Studies and Avoid Scrutiny
What Bohannon and Johnson won’t say is the quiet part out loud:
They rushed this project through BEFORE any baseline studies could delay or stop it.
They knew that groundwater sampling, hydrology modeling, wildfire analysis, and explosive setback verification would take months — and could defeat the project.
Instead of doing the science, they:
Withheld documents
Violated notice laws
Back-dated agreements
Buried leases under 24-hour agendas
Relied on a “safety commentary” that explicitly disclaims safety responsibility
This is not transparency.
It is not accountability.
It is not democracy.
It is railroading, plain and simple.
5. The Bottom Line
Rio Rancho is being asked to bear the:
water risk
wildfire risk
mortgage insurance risk
property value risk
environmental risk
explosive hazard risk
regulatory risk
financial liability
Meanwhile, a private weapons manufacturer receives:
subsidies
tax benefits
fast-tracked approvals
zero environmental review
and permission to self-certify safety
This is not national security.
It is not economic development.
It is a transfer of public risk to a private corporation operating without meaningful oversight.
And it does not belong within miles of Rio Rancho homes. Or while in transport.
Resist
This is MAGA. This is obviously related to Trump. Wayne Johnson is clearly MAGA. Rio Rancho is MAGA.