Cimarron mill, Carrizozo, New Mexico: A typical superfund site?
— Lynn A. Brandvold

The Cimarron Mill in Carrizozo, New Mexico, was operated by Southwest Minerals Company under the name of Cimarron Mining Company (CMC) as a cyanide mill for gold recovery from 1979 until 1982. In 1980 the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (NMEID) received a report of improper use and dumping of cyanide at the site. A certified notice of violations was sent to CMC in 1982 by NMEID for discharging into a non-permitted discharge pit. CMC filed for bankruptcy in 1983 so no action on the violations was taken by the state. A Site Inspection Follow-Up Report was done by NMEID in 1984 and in 1988 the mill site was listed as a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A feasibility study to determine the method of remediation was completed by EPA contractors in June 1990 and a remediation method was chosen in September 1990. Clean-up will be done by an EPA-supervised contractor and is expected to begin in spring of 1991 and to be completed in 1992.