NM wildfires grow to 12,000 acres and $28 million estimated cost - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Two lightning-caused wildfires in northern and southern New Mexico have grown to a combined 20 square miles, according to the latest figures from firefighting teams.
The Indios Fire has burned more than 5,200 acres and has cost an estimated $8 million to suppress. It is burning in the Santa Fe National Forest, about 7 miles north of the village of Coyote. Fire managers are largely allowing it to burn within a designated perimeter, citing the fire’s beneficial effects on the overgrown forest.
The Blue 2 fire has burned more than 7,400 acres in the Lincoln National Forest in southern New Mexico. The blaze north of Ruidoso has cost an estimated $20 million to fight so far, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Both fires are 0% contained.
Unlike the Indios Fire, the Blue 2 Fire poses risks to homes and has prompted some evacuations. The command team in charge of the fire said Tuesday that the current evacuation orders will stay in effect for now and for the “immediate future.”
As of now, the 8,000-population town of Ruidoso about 8 miles south of the fire has not been under evacuation orders. However, it is a possibility, according to maps published by the command team in charge.
Specifically, Ruidoso residents could be ordered to mobilize to flee the town if the fire heads east of Dry Mills Trail, a 1-mile hiking trail about half a mile east of the edge of the wildfire.
Ruidoso could also be asked to be prepared to evacuate – what’s known as “Set” status – if the fire burns into nearby Phillips, Flume or Kraus canyons that are southwest of the Dry Mills hiking trail, or if it gets east of Forest Road 127A, according to fire officials with the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
To prevent any additional evacuations, firefighters are building fire breaks along the perimeter by hand and with bulldozers. Airplanes and helicopters are dropping fire retardant and water around the perimeter.
State officials said that 10 crews, 32 engines, six helicopters and six bulldozers are being deployed to fight the Blue 2 Fire.
House Speaker Johnson opposes radiation compensation for Missouri, New Mexico - By Allison Kite, The Missouri Independent
Offering compensation to thousands of Americans across nine states exposed to radiation from the nation’s nuclear weapons program would be too expensive, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office said Wednesday.
With less than two weeks until the existing Radiation Exposure Compensation Act expires, a spokesperson in Johnson’s office said the speaker supports renewing the program where it already exists but not expanding it, creating a huge obstacle for advocates and cancer patients from St. Louis to the Navajo Nation who were exposed to bomb testing or nuclear waste.
“House Republican Leadership is committed to ensuring the federal government fulfills its existing obligations to Americans exposed to nuclear radiation,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “Unfortunately, the current Senate bill is estimated to cost $50-60 billion in new mandatory spending with no offsets and was supported by only 20 of 49 Republicans in the Senate.”
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, originally passed by Congress in 1990, offers compensation to uranium miners and civilians who were downwind of nuclear bomb testing in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. It expires June 10, and for months, advocates and members of Congress — especially from Missouri and New Mexico — have been lobbying Congress to expand it.
U.S. senators have twice passed legislation that would expand RECA, but it hasn’t gone anywhere in the House of Representatives. The legislation would add the remaining parts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada to the program and bring coverage to downwinders in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Guam. It would also offer coverage for residents exposed to radioactive waste in Missouri, Tennessee, Alaska and Kentucky.
Dawn Chapman, who co-founded Just Moms STL to advocate for communities affected by World War II-era nuclear waste that contaminated parts of the St. Louis area, called Johnson’s statement “shocking.”
“I think that’s a pitiful excuse,” Chapman said of the limited Republican support. “I think that there isn’t even an excuse for the fiscal conservatives that say, ‘Put America first,’ because they clearly didn’t do that.”
Chapman and supporters of the legislation believe the $50-60 billion price tag is an overestimation, and she noted that cost is spread over five years.
She said supporters have worked to cut the costs of the program, including narrowing the list of health conditions that would qualify for compensation. If costs were a concern, Chapman said, Johnson should have met with advocates to work on further cuts.
Chapman said she’d return to Washington, D.C., next week, and “the least he can do is meet with us for 10 minutes.”
Johnson’s position was revealed Tuesday evening on social media by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and sparked outrage among the state’s congressional delegation.
U.S. Reps. Cori Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis, and Ann Wagner, a Republican from the nearby suburbs, vowed to oppose any extension of RECA that didn’t add Missouri.
On social media Wednesday afternoon, Hawley said the federal government “has not begun to meet its obligations to nuclear radiation victims.”
“(Missouri) victims have gotten zilch,” Hawley said.
Parts of the St. Louis area have been contaminated for 75 years with radioactive waste left over from the effort to build the world’s first atomic bomb during World War II. Uranium refined in downtown St. Louis was used in the first sustained nuclear chain reaction in Chicago, a breakthrough in the Manhattan Project, the name given to the effort to develop the bomb.
After the war, waste from uranium refining efforts was trucked from St. Louis to surrounding counties and dumped near Coldwater Creek and in a quarry in Weldon Spring, polluting surface and groundwater. Remaining waste was dumped at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, where it remains today.
Generations of St. Louis-area families lived in homes near contaminated sites without warning from the federal government. A study by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found exposure to the creek elevated residents’ risk of cancer. Residents of nearby communities suffer higher-than-normal rates of breast, colon, prostate, kidney and bladder cancers and leukemia. Childhood brain and nervous system cancers are also higher.
Councilor Dan Lewis ‘likely violated’ ethics law in Air Quality Board votes - By Elizabeth Mccall and Elise Kaplan, City Desk ABQ
The executive director of the State Ethics Commission found that City Councilor Dan Lewis “likely violated” the Governmental Conduct Act when he applied to work for an association of paving companies whose members were impacted by air quality legislation he sponsored and voted on in his role as an elected official.
Under a pre-litigation settlement agreement with the commission, Lewis — the council president — will recuse himself in all matters relating to the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Joint Air Quality Control Board and the Asphalt Pavement Association of New Mexico (APANM) while he serves on the council and is employed by the association.
In a statement to City Desk ABQ, Lewis said a press release by the commission was misleading and failed “to admit that the actual agreement does not impose any penalty and makes no adverse ruling or finding.” He asked that City Desk ABQ publish his entire statement, which is included below.
The Governmental Conduct Act prohibits public officials from “acquiring a new financial interest while in office if there is reason to believe the financial interest will be directly impacted by the public official’s governmental acts.” The act also requires public officials to recuse themselves from voting or other official acts that will affect their financial interest.
The dust-up began in late 2022 when the Mountain View Neighborhood Association and other community groups based in an industrial area in the southern part of the city filed a petition seeking “stringent air-quality regulations to address health, environment and equity impacts of air pollution for overburdened communities in Bernalillo County,” according to the factual background laid out in a letter from Jeremy Farris, the executive director of the State Ethics Commission, to Lewis.
Then, in February 2023, APANM — along with other asphalt and construction groups — entered their appearance and became parties to a rulemaking hearing on the petition.
In October, Lewis introduced a resolution to establish a moratorium on the air quality control board — restricting the regulations they can make — and an ordinance abolishing the board and reconstituting it, according to the letter. Those both passed, although Mayor Tim Keller vetoed them.
In late November, according to the letter, Lewis met with APANM about applying to be the executive director and sent them his resume. Five days he later moved to override Keller’s veto. That motion passed.
Lewis started his new job with APANM on Jan. 1.
Farris concluded that Lewis’ conduct likely violated the Governmental Conduct Act.
“Accordingly, while you were negotiating the terms of your prospective employment with APANM board members, you took an official act that was in the interest of APANM board members and, again, reasonably and foreseeably would have predisposed the APANM board members with hiring authority toward you,” he states in the letter.
Farris initially offered Lewis a proposed settlement agreement that included a $250 payment and in exchange the commission would not file a civil action seeking civil penalties and would agree that the violations “were not knowing and willful, avoiding any potential criminal referral.”
In a response letter, Lewis offered a counter proposal to recuse himself from the related matters. He said he takes his public service seriously and in no way would jeopardize his reputation in service of personal benefit.
“While I did meet with the board of APANM to discuss the position of executive director, I did not know that individual members of the board were participating in the rulemaking hearings,” Lewis said in the letter. “Furthermore, I had no idea that discussing a potential job could constitute ‘acquiring a financial interest’ pursuant [to the Governmental Conduct Act]. While I understand that ignorance of the law is generally no defense, I did not take an official action in furtherance of affecting or acquiring any personal financial interest.”
Meanwhile, the Air Quality Control Board filed a lawsuit saying that the legislation introduced by Lewis left it unable to act. In late January, a judge agreed and approved an injunction so that the board can meet while the lawsuit is pending.
Read Councilor Lewis’ full statement here.
City Desk ABQ's publisher Pat Davis, a former city councilor, participated in deliberations and votes regarding the AQCB during his term on the council.
Water, energy, conservation and more on the interim agenda for legislators — Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
The interim Water and Natural Resources Committee met in Santa Fe on Tuesday to discuss a proposed schedule and list of topics to address before the legislature meets again for 60 days in 2025.
Danielle Prokop with Source New Mexico reports even with a shorter interim session and shorter meetings, members said there’s plenty of ground to cover with water issues, energy and climate concerns across New Mexico.
Interim committees are bipartisan, with members from both chambers. They hear reports from New Mexico agencies, tour locations and suggest legislation for the upcoming session. Lawmakers and agency staff usually meet outside of the Roundhouse in communities across the state.
So far, there are set dates, but some locations are still being determined.
The meeting and locations are set for meetings on July 22-23, August 26-27, September 26-27, October 28-29 and a final November 25-26.
They will be “day and a half” meetings.
Interim committee chair Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Galisteo) said he’d tell lawmakers “soon” when he’d set the locations for the meetings in July, September and October. Currently the August meeting will be held at the New Mexico Technical Institute in Socorro and the final November meeting will be held at the Roundhouse.
Potential meeting sites floated by committee members on Tuesday include the Red River and Questa area, Rio Rancho or Corrales, Hobbs and Las Cruces.
McQueen said he planned to “dial back” the work during this interim,acknowledging that it was an election year and lawmakers have “campaigns to attend to,” in addition to other responsibilities.
He proposed that meetings would fall under large topics: water, energy and conservation to start.
Members on the committee made a few suggestions for additional umbrella topics.
Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque) brought up air quality and health. She pointed to the American Lung Association’s failing grades of New Mexico’s highest populated counties. Both Bernalillo and Doña Ana Counties received “F” grades for ozone and particle pollution, according to the study.
Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) recommended the topic of climate, and said her office was working on research about “where we are, where we’ve been and where we oughta go,” on the topic.
Sen. Pat Woods (R-Clovis) asked if the committee would examine if recent legislation such as the Community Solar Program and the Water Data Act, were enforceable and that agencies were meeting their goals on the new laws.
Lawmakers also asked for progress updates on the New Mexico Energy Transition Act, weather monitoring programs and hydrogen development plans. There was also discussion about legislation to address PFAS testing in private water wells.
FIRE AND WATER
McQueen emphasized he wanted the interim sessions to go deeper on topics, rather than cover a wide range.
Multiple lawmakers responded and said they wanted to dive into wildfire and local water infrastructure concerns.
Older and often failing water infrastructure creates problems for rural drinking supplies, but also fire suppression, said. Rep. Susan Herrera (D-Embudo). She said the state should consider a separate fund to address infrastructure needs.
“We’re not going to capital outlay our way out of this,” Herrera said regarding the state’s process to send money to local communities. “It’s going to take some real investment from the state into this.”
Finally, lawmakers said they wanted updates on various water litigation – whether tribal water rights, or the Rio Grande settlement agreement still pending a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sen. Joe Cervantes (D-Las Cruces), recommended that Attorney General Raúl Torrez should make a presentation to the committee regarding staff and efforts on water litigation before the New Mexico Department of Justice.
McQueen said the interim committee wanted to see more policy presentations from the executive, noting that the Strategic Water Supply – a $500 million plan to buy treated brackish water and oil and gas wastewater to sell for other uses – was originally “a line in a budget.”
He emphasized he wanted to see a bill from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office on the proposal if brought forward in the next session.
Sedillo Lopez agreed.
“While it’s not good to have legislation without funding, it’s also not good to have funding without legislation, and we have both,” she said.
McQueen told the committee he would take additional suggestions over the next couple of days and that the full iterimin agenda and meeting locations would follow.
What to expect: APS board to finalize $2.15 billion budget — Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
Albuquerque Public Schools board members are set to finalize the budget for next school year at their May 29 special meeting.
The budget the board will decide on includes $2.15 billion, which covers both APS operations and those of district-authorized charter schools.
The budget includes a 3% raise for all employees, as approved by the New Mexico Legislature earlier this year.
Preparation of the spending plan began shortly after the Feb. 15 end of the legislative session.
District officials provided preliminary information to the board at its Feb. 7 meeting. After that came steering committee meetings, and individual schools and departments within APS then submitted their budget requests.
Principals attended budget workshops in late February, and district officials made presentations to the board on various budget areas at the first meeting of each month since then.
CHARTER CHANGES
The proposed budget shows substantial changes for six charter schools.
William W. & Josephine Dorn Community Charter School will “pause” for a year; its budget was $843,928 for fiscal year 2023-2024.
Voz Collegiate Preparatory Charter School’s expected state aid is up 85.36% to $1,365,290. The school is expanding into high school over the next four years, starting with the addition of ninth grade in 2024-2025.
Siembra Leadership High School is expected to see enrollment increase from 359 this school year to a projected 380 in 2024-2025. That will mean its allocation from the state will rise from $3,537,978 to $5,138,537.
An increase in program units at Coral Community Charter School means its state aid will rise 25.94% to 2,833,872.
Decreases in program units mean New America School and Robert F Kennedy High School will see their state aid drop by 15.8% and 14.14%, respectively.
Program units, under state law, are used to calculate the cost of educating a student. The Legislature’s glossary defines a kindergartner’s seat in a classroom as 1.44 program units, while each student in grades 7-12 is counted as 1.25 program units.
BIGGER APS ROLE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION
The board will also be asked to consider the approval of an intergovernmental agreement with Albuquerque and Bernalillo County that would recreate the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Government Commission as the Local Government Coordinating Commission. Currently, APS holds two advisory seats on the city-county commission.
Board of Education President Danielle Gonzales said earlier that the change will make the district a voting member of the commission.
Members Courtney Jackson and Heather Benavidez would continue to represent APS on the new commission.
CALENDAR CHANGE
The other action item on the agenda is a slight change to the 2024-2025 academic calendar. If the change is approved, the second semester would begin Jan 7, one day later than planned and a staff professional development day would be moved from that day to May 30, 2025, which is the last day of school in the calendar approved in February.
Channell Segura, chief of schools, wrote in an action report included in the agenda the recommended change is in response to concerns about the last day of school being a full day.
Pilot injured after a military fighter jet crashes near international airport in Albuquerque — Associated Press
A military fighter jet on its way to an Air Force base in California crashed Tuesday near the international airport in New Mexico's largest city, sending up a large plume of smoke and injuring the pilot.
The pilot, the only person on board, was able to escape after crashing around 2 p.m. on a hillside on the south side of Albuquerque's airport and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to the city's fire department.
U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin identified the downed plane as an F-35 that left Fort Worth, Texas, earlier Tuesday and was headed to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. A spokesperson for Lockheed said in an email to The Associated Press that the fighter jet crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Neither of the Air Force bases immediately responded to requests for more information.
Located on the southern edge of Albuquerque, Kirtland is home to the 377th Air Base Wing, which conducts nuclear operations and trains and equips expeditionary forces. It's also home to the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Patrick White, who was driving in the area at the time of the crash, told AP that he saw the aircraft trailing low to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust. He said it briefly disappeared from his line of sight, and then he saw "an enormous plume of black smoke."
When he drove past the crash, he said he saw a piece of the fighter jet in the middle of the road.
It marks the second crash of a military plane in New Mexico in the past month. In April, an F-16 Fighting Falcon went down in a remote area near Holloman Air Force Base in the southern part of the state, leaving that pilot with minor injuries after he ejected from the aircraft.
Department of Energy expands lung cancer screening for former lab workers — Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
People who worked at the two major national laboratories in New Mexico will have more chances to get medical screening examinations for work-related diseases, federal officials announced.
Those who worked for the U.S. Department of Energy at Los Alamos National Laboratory or Sandia National Laboratories and are at high risk of lung cancer can also now get low-dose CT scans, according to the news release.
The DOE Former Worker Medical Screening Program is being expanded to New Mexico national lab workers who were exposed to radiation, asbestos, beryllium, and other carcinogenic metals and toxins, the White House announced May 3.
The screening is also “offered to all former DOE workers who have served the Nation in its national security and other missions,” the program said.
The screenings are being performed by the Worker Health Protection Program at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, City University of New York, and the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The new and expanded screening will be celebrated at two events in June, where speakers will include a former LANL worker, the director of DOE’s Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security, the head of the Los Alamos Medical Center, the head of the New Mexico Building And Construction Trades Council and representatives of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.
CELEBRATIONS SCHEDULED IN LOS ALAMOS AND ALBUQUERQUE
From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5 at IBEW Local 611, located at 4921 Alexander Blvd NE # A in Albuquerque.
From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 6 on the back lawn at the Los Alamos Medical Center, located at 3917 West Road in Los Alamos. Enter from Trinity Drive, take left at the first stop sign and park in the back lot.