by NMELC | Aug 7, 2023 | NMELC in the News
August 7, 2023
By Drew Goretzka, Albuquerque Business First
New versions of a proposal to change air permitting processes in Bernalillo County are taking stage at ongoing stakeholder meetings.
The original proposal, filed in November 2022 by the Mountain View Coalition, a collection of neighborhood organizations based in South Valley, looks to limit permits being issued in communities deemed “overburdened.”
Business leaders, especially those with stakes in the South Valley, say the proposal would hinder business and development across the county.
The two proposals, submitted by the Mountain View Coalition and the City of AlbuquerqueEnvironmental Health Department (EHD), differ greatly in specificity and intent. …
by NMELC | Jul 23, 2023 | NMELC in the News
July 23, 2023
By Alaina Mencinger, Albuquerque Journal
Residents of a South Valley neighborhood, frustrated at being used as a “sacrifice zone” for industry, are asking for a harder look at the impact of pollution before air quality permits are approved.
Mountain View is a Bernalillo County community sandwiched between the Rio Grande and Interstate 25. The area is host to several industrial facilities, including a water treatment plant, several asphalt plants and the Rio Bravo generating station. As early as 2004, the New Mexico Environment Department labeled the neighborhood, whose inhabitants are predominantly Hispanic and low-income, as an “overburdened area.”…
by NMELC | Jul 6, 2023 | NMELC in the News
July 6, 2023
By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Environmental groups said they were surprised by the ruling, but expect the fight to continue over site in Cibola County.
In early June, federal regulators rejected a mining company’s proposal to loosen current cleanup standards at a former uranium mining operation in Western New Mexico.
Beginning in 1958, The Homestake Mining Company operated a mine in Cibola County, just five miles outside the town of Milan. The consequences have carried 65 years into the future. In the early 2000s, one of the world’s largest mining companies, Barrick Gold, bought out Homestake….
by NMELC | Jun 27, 2023 | News, Press Releases
June 27, 2023
Press Release
Homestake/Barrick Gold Request for “Alternate Concentration Limits” at Grants Reclamation Project Not Accepted by NRC
Albuquerque, NM —The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently took the unusual step of denying a License Amendment Request from Homestake Mining Company for Alternative Concentration Limits, which allow corporations to avoid cleaning up contaminated groundwater to pre-operational conditions. …
by NMELC | May 9, 2023 | NMELC in the News
May 9, 2023
Guest Column, Albuquerque Journal
By
BY LAURO SILVA, PRESIDENT, MOUNTAIN VIEW NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION; NORA GARCIA, BOARD MEMBER, MVNA; MARLA PAINTER, PRESIDENT, MOUNTAIN VIEW COMMUNITY ACTION (MVCA); ALAN MARKS, BOARD MEMBER, MVCA; DAVID BARBER, PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF VALLE DE ORO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (FVDO) AND KATIE DIX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FVDO
On May 1, under cover of darkness, the Albuquerque City Council voted to put thousands of Bernalillo County residents at risk for asthma, heart disease, cancer and other diseases associated with air pollution.
Albuquerque and Bernalillo County are becoming increasingly known for bad air quality – the American Lung Association recently gave Bernalillo County an “F” for air quality related to ozone – and the health effects associated with air pollution. But air pollution does not affect everyone in Albuquerque equally; air polluting industrial permits overwhelmingly impact low-income communities, and communities of color experience the adverse health impacts of air pollution disproportionately….
