New Mexico Environmental Law Center Announces Recipients Of Its EJ Awards For 2021

By Carol A. Clark
Los Alamos Daily Post
December 14, 2021

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) has announced the winners of its Annual Environmental Justice Awards for 2021.

The winners were celebrated during the NMELC’s Annual Member Appreciation & EJ Awards event held Friday, Dec. 10 over Zoom. The four awards given out include the tongue-in-cheek “award” for Toxic Polluter…

After public pressure, ABQ Council confirms Pfeiffer to environmental board

By Austin Fisher
Source NM
December 14, 2021

Incoming commissioner becomes the first Indigenous person to serve, according to city sources.\

Albuquerque councilors confirmed the appointment of the first Native person ever to serve on the city government’s Environmental Planning Commission, according to city sources. She’ll also be the only woman on the board. 

But it was only after public pressure and a letter-writing campaign from numerous organizations in support of the candidate, who said she experienced discrimination during the vetting process…

NMELC Announces Recipients of its EJ Awards for 2021

December 13, 2021 Toxic Polluter Award for 2021 Goes to Hilcorp Energy Santa Fe, NM—The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) announced the winners of its Annual Environmental Justice Awards for 2021. The winners were celebrated during the NMELC’s Annual Member...

Water Contamination On Military Bases Isn’t New. And That’s A Problem

By Anita Hofschneider
Honolulu Civil Beat
December 3, 2021

Dee Ann Koanui’s memories of the three years she spent as a child living on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina are a glorious stream of outdoor adventures.

She and her four siblings spent their days climbing trees and watching alligators at a nearby river, only returning to their four-bedroom home at the end of a cul-de-sac when night fell and the streetlights flickered on.

But Koanui’s rosy recollections were dampened when years later, in her 30s, she learned that Camp Lejeune had been the site of contaminated drinking water for decades, in part due to carcinogenic chemicals used for dry-cleaning services.