The City of Albuquerque Air Quality Division sent out an e-mail Thursday morning announcing that it had set a date for the continuation of a hearing on a new permit that would allow a North Valley cement company to expand its operating hours to 24/7.

But the Division was forced to scrap that plan almost immediately when it was pointed out that the hearing had been set for the same evening that neighborhood associations across the city (and country) have planned community events as part of National Night Out.

The first hearing on the proposed permit change, on June 24, ran so late that only a portion of the residents who had signed up to testify had time to do so. Audience members requested that the city schedule a second meeting to accommodate everyone who wanted to speak.

Kyle Silfer of the Greater Gardner Neighborhood Association, which includes the area surrounding the American Cement transfer station, immediately complained to the Air Quality Division director in an e-mail, writing, “Why did you schedule this public hearing on National Night Out, the night the city, the mayor and the Office of Neighborhood Coordination is actively encouraging all neighborhood associations to sponsor and attend social events? It’s just about the worst possible night you could have chosen to encourage public participation.”

Silfer also complained about a lack of communication with community members, a persistent theme of the struggle between neighbors, the city and the cement company, writing, “Again, some dialog with the neighborhoods would have revealed this conflict before it was scheduled.”

But employees at the Air Quality Division responded immediately and rescheduled the hearing for the following night, Wednesday, August 5. It will be held from 6-10 p.m. at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, in the Silver and Turquoise Room.

American Cement is requesting the new permit from the City of Albuquerque Air Quality Division because, company representatives say, it needs more flexibility in its operating hours in order to remain competitive. The facility is a transfer station where cement is unloaded from rail cars and transferred into trucks that haul the dry powder to construction sites.

Neighbors have complained bitterly about noise, traffic and dust from the plant. The dust, they say, covers their cars and trees and clogs their swamp coolers. At the first hearing many, including employees at the Albuquerque Museum Foundation’s nearby office in a historic hacienda, said they were worried, despite assurances from executives and a toxicologist hired by the company, that the quantity of dust released from the plant is harmful to their health.