New Mexico should have better air quality testing

Driving into Albuquerque from Tijeras some days reminds me of growing up in Los Angeles. The gray haze hanging over the city triggers the smoginduced headaches from my LA childhood. A recent American Lung Association “State of the Air” report confirms that Bernalillo County’s ozone levels merit an F. Santa Fe County is slightly better with a C.

We do not know what levels are in Torrance, Guadalupe, San Miguel and most other New Mexico counties, because these counties do not measure them. We should be asking why they do not, because we all need to know how clean our air is, especially the 1,214 people in Torrance for example, who have asthma, the 745 people who suffer from COPD, the 1,037 who have cardiovascular disease, and the many more have conditions that make them especially susceptible to air pollution.

Seeing smog in urban areas is not surprising since it results from driving gasoline-powered cars, but the Lung Association report also found high levels of ozone in rural counties. Indeed, New Mexico's Eddy County was ranked 24th out of the 25 most polluted counties in the entire country, one of only two rural counties to make the list. It, along with Lea and San Juan counties, also received Fs because ozone is formed during oil and gas operations. When wells leak and are not repaired they release compounds that create ozone, and the kids in those counties—along with all the other people with respiratory illnesses—have no choice but to breathe that in.

We can plug those leaks by urging the Governor to deliver ozone rules that close loopholes on leak detection and repair, and to call on President Biden to create rules that cut methane waste and pollution from oil and gas 65% by 2025. That will be welcome news to anyone who breathes. Stefi Weisburd, Tijeras