Gathering Will Mark 45 Years Since the Largest Radioactive Release in U.S. History Hit New Mexico

 KUNM
July 11, 2024
by Jeanette DeDios

It’s been 45 years since the largest radioactive release in U.S. history occurred at Church Rock New Mexico. Members of the Navajo Nation will gather on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the uranium spill.

On July 16th, 1979, a dam ruptured and released more than a thousand tons of radioactive waste and nearly 95 million gallons of toxic radioactive wastewater spilled into the nearby Rio Puerco and surrounding Navajo Nation lands. …

Mountain View Residents Allege City of Albuquerque Has Violated Their Civil Rights

June 6, 2024
New Mexico Political Report
by Hannah Grover

Residents of the Mountain View neighborhood in the South Valley of Albuquerque have filed a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding environmental justice and air pollution in minority and low-income communities. The South Valley of Albuquerque is in an unincorporated area of Bernalillo County, but abuts the city and is heavily impacted by city decisions.  …

Mountain View Coalition Files Federal Civil Rights Complaint Against City of ABQ

Monday, June 3, 2024

MOUNTAIN VIEW RESIDENTS FILE FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT AGAINST CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE FOR INTERFERING WITH HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT & EQUITY IMPACTS (HEEI) HEARING 

Mountain View Coalition Alleges City Blatantly & Deliberately Discriminated Against a Community of Color

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—During tonight’s Albuquerque City Council meeting, several Mountain View residents charged City Council with racial discrimination, announcing that on Friday, May 31, 2024, the Mountain View Coalition—made up of Mountain View Neighborhood Association, Mountain View Community Action and Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge—represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, filed a federal Civil Rights Complaint against the City of Albuquerque and Albuquerque City Council with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  …

EPA Finally Doing the Right Thing with Uranium Waste in Red Water Pond Road Community

Albuquerque Journal

June 2, 2024

By Teracita Keyanna and Edith Hood / Red Water Pond Road Community Association

Uranium waste is a problem with no easy solutions. A proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to remove uranium mine waste from our community, the Red Water Pond Road community 11 miles north of Church Rock, to the Red Rock landfill property 5 miles east of Thoreau, has generated some disagreements among members of the Navajo Nation. …

Clearing the Air: Why We Support Moving Uranium Mine Waste to the Red Rock Landfill

Navajo Times

By Edith Hood and Teracita Keyanna

May 16, 2024

Editor’s note: Teracita Keyanna and Edith Hood are members of the Red Water Pond Road Community Association. The community is 11 miles northeast of Churchrock, New Mexico.

A proposal to remove uranium mine waste from our community, the Red Water Pond Road community, 11 miles north of Churchrock in the Eastern Agency, to the Red Rock Landfill property five miles east of Thoreau, has generated some disagreements among members of the Navajo Nation. We are writing to give our community’s perspective and to help base the conversation on accurate information. We want to work together as one people to collaborate and figure out a plan to protect ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren….

Communities of Color Suffer the Most from BernCo’s Air Pollution

By Lauro Silva

Albuquerque Journal

May 12, 2024

In April, the American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report, grading metropolitan areas and counties across the country on their air quality.

Unsurprisingly to working class communities of color in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, Bernalillo County received failing grades for ozone and fine particulate matter. This most recent State of the Air report cemented the Albuquerque metropolitan area’s place as one of the most polluted medium-sized cities in the nation. …