FEMA says NM fire victims will have to prove ‘causation’ to get payment for well contamination - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Officials with the federal claims office overseeing a multi-billion-dollar compensation fund for New Mexico’s Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire victims told Source New Mexico they will consider paying to address newly found well contamination, but only if victims first prove “injuries and causation.”
A recent independent geologic study discovered high levels of heavy metals in several dozen private wells in Mora County, findings the study’s author attributed to fire suppressants firefighters used in battling the 534-square-mile wildfire that raged for several months in spring and summer 2022.
Geologist Kate Zeigler’s report — which documented elevated levels of metals like antimony, manganese and uranium beyond federal safe drinking water limits — also prompted the state Health Department to issue a health alert, warning families using the wells to drink bottled water and citing fire suppressants as a potential source for the contamination. Other state and local agencies have also since stepped in to donate pallets of bottled water to the area.
Meanwhile, some Mora County residents and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) have called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to use some of roughly $2 billion remaining in a compensation fund it oversees to help address the issue. The FEMA claims office responded Friday afternoon with answers to Source New Mexico’s questions about whether it will award compensation for claims for the latest contamination.
Officials wrote in an unsigned statement that, “FEMA does not make determinations related to recent reports of heavy metals in drinking water in Northern New Mexico” and that the office “is not authorized to conduct studies of potential damages caused by the fire.”
Still, the statement said the office would consider claims individuals and households bring regarding contamination.
“Heavy metals caused by the fire can be compensable, and a claimant will need to present a claim demonstrating injuries and causation,” officials said in the statement.
Congress awarded FEMA $5.45 billion with the aim of “fully compensating” victims of the wildfire, which resulted from two botched prescribed burns on federal land in early 2022. In addition to burned property and smoke damage, the fire also caused widespread floods and debris flows, known as “cascading events,” for which the office has also agreed to pay.
According to the latest figures, the office has paid about $3.24 billion in compensation.
In an emailed statement to Source on Monday afternoon, Leger Fernández called on FEMA to quickly establish a process to address the heavy metal contaminants “rather than being dismissive.”
“The office can and should create a protocol to quickly address these claims, similar to what they have done in other instances of loss,” she said.
Given that she helped draft and pass the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, which created the compensation fund, Leger Fernández said she knows the bill’s legislative intent, which is to pay for the fire, as well as flooding and other ensuing harms.
“The cascading events from the fire, including the flooding and now the water contamination, must be compensated,” she said. “Given that water is essential to life, these claims must be processed as expeditiously as possible.”
Paula Garcia, a lifelong Mora resident and director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, said the agency needs to be more proactive to deal with the latest environmental threat the fire caused.
“The claims office should make a determination based on available data that the fire retardant drops caused elevated levels of heavy metal in our water. They don’t have to do their own study, she told Source. “It is within their power to make a determination on existing data on causation.”
She said she’s also unsure how claimants can prove “injury,” at least while compensation is still available through the fund.
“Heavy metals have long-term impacts. I don’t see how an individual could demonstrate injury. Making people demonstrate injury and causation is a way to weed people out,” she said.
According to the Health Department, prolonged or high-concentration exposure to the metals can damage kidneys and the cardiovascular and nervous systems. Infants, young children and pregnant people are the most sensitive, particularly to arsenic and manganese, which can affect brain development and cause other health effects.
In the statement, the claims office noted that if a connection between the fire and the contamination is proved, the office would reimburse claimants, and encouraged people to contact claims office navigators to work on reopening or adding to their damage claims.
The statement also declined to respond to recent criticism from Leger Fernández and other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation about the office’s treatment of “cascading event” claims. In a Nov. 6 letter, the delegation said FEMA was not acting quickly enough or at all on claims for new flooding damage.
The statement provided to Source said FEMA does not comment publicly on its responses to congressional inquiries, but officials noted that claims can be reopened in some cases.
“However, not all issues that arise from after the fire are caused by the fire, and in some cases requests for additional compensation have been found ineligible,” the statement reads.
Person hospitalized after home explosion in northeast Albuquerque - Nakayla McClelland and Gregory Hasman, Albuquerque Journal
A person suffered serious injuries after a house exploded in northeast Albuquerque late Sunday night.
The cause of the incident has not been determined and is under investigation, Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesperson Jason Fejer said in an email.
At around 10:23 p.m., Albuquerque Fire Rescue responded to a call of an explosion and house fire in the 1000 block of Walker NE, near Lomas and Eubank.
When firefighters arrived, they found the home on fire. The fire was quickly controlled, but not before firefighters rescued a person who was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, Fejer said.
Firefighters also learned a second home was damaged during the incident. Pieces of debris could be seen at the second house, including a piece of roofing that hung on a tree.
No one was reported injured, but people in that home were displaced, Fejer said.
Evan Armstrong, owner of the house across from the explosion, said his home was damaged by the combustion.
“Inside, the walls pushed in a little bit and the garage was damaged a little bit,” Armstrong said.
He said he was startled when he heard a loud “boom” in the middle of the night. Other neighbors reported hearing the same sound, believing it to be a test from Kirtland Air Force Base. They later learned a home had exploded in their neighborhood.
Armstrong said he saw a fire in the garage, but believed something internally caused the blast.
He and other neighbors described the homeowner as a nice man who had been living at the home for some time.
Multiple cars drove by the morning after the explosion, and all of them slowed to take a look at the decimated house, which had been completely destroyed.
Another neighbor could be seen sweeping away shards of glass from his property that was barricaded with police tape.
The New Mexico Gas Company and Public Service Company of New Mexico were on scene to isolate utilities. On Monday, gas company workers walked through the house, surveying damage and combing over debris as they investigated.
New Mexico Gas took multiple readings and did not detect any leaks in the area surrounding the home that exploded, Fejer said.
The incident “appears to be isolated to the involved address,” he said.
City of Santa Fe says delayed micro shelter village moving forward on Richards Avenue - Santa Fe New Mexican
A proposal to build a micro-shelter village on Richards Avenue in Santa Fe is proceeding slowly through the city’s permitting process.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the site would be Santa Fe’s second community of prefabricated, individual shelter units manufactured by the Washington state-based company Pallet. If constructed, it would be the first such shelter village on city-owned land.
Back in June, the Santa Fe City Council approved the proposed new village of micro shelters for homeless families. However, city officials have told the New Mexican the project has been delayed after encountering some “speed bumps” when it came to zoning and permitting.
Another such village was constructed in 2024 at Christ Lutheran Church on Arroyo Chamiso Road, at the intersection of St. Michael’s Drive and Old Pecos Trail. However, shelter villages are not included in the city’s land use code, leading to questions about how they would be categorized for the permit process.
The New Mexican reports that ultimately, the city determined they fall under the umbrella of “residential care facility.”
Work has been underway to prepare for construction on the property at 2395 Richards Ave., City staff say they’re working with consultants Woven Architecture and Davenport Construction on preliminary designs for the project.
The plot is adjacent to Fire Station No. 7 and close to the city-owned Genoveva Chavez Community Center and the private Forked Lightning Racquet Club. City officials say there will be a community engagement meeting on the project within the next two months.
New Mexico Broadband Office awards grant to provide internet to Lordsburg schools- Jeanette DeDios, KUNM News
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion announced on Monday that it will soon offer high-speed internet to students in the rural southwest part of the state.
The $1.5 million Student Connect grant will be awarded to Transworld Network to provide high-speed internet to students in the Lordsburg Municipal Schools.The grant will pay for wireless service to 295 students’ households that lack reliable home internet by providing infrastructure like wireless towers and receivers. Installation will begin early next year and will be in place before July, according to Mike Curtis from the state’s broadband office.
Participating students and staff will also receive three years of free internet service.
“Rural communities are too often left behind when it comes to affordable, high-speed internet,” said Steve Lucas, Lordsburg Municipal Schools superintendent.
This is the second Student Connect grant issued to internet service provider Transworld Network. In July, the state broadband office awarded the company $1.5 million to provide internet access to students in the nearby Silver City school district.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
$120 million in cuts to New Mexico colleges, universities targeted DEI, energy — Alex Ross, New Mexico Political Report
Restrictions to student aid and scaled back research grants could add up to double trouble for students and colleges in New Mexico next year, the state’s secretary of higher education warned legislators last Friday.
The changes, some of which were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, include the scaling back of some repayment options and subsidized loans and tighter borrowing rules for students, as well as more than $120 million in lost federal funding for New Mexico colleges and universities implemented by the Trump administration so far this year.
Student Aid Restrictions Argent Graduate Students
State Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez told the Indian Affairs Committee on Friday that while state efforts, such as the Lottery and Opportunity Scholarships, are available to cover the cost of tuition and fee waivers for most college students, those seeking graduate degrees will face challenges. “There are going to be caps on loans with low interest rates for graduate students to complete grad school, meaning that they’re going to have to pull out private loans with especially high interest rates,” Rodriguez said. She noted that it will be tough not only for students seeking to finish medical school or law school, but all graduate students who, on average, complete school with anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000 of debt.
Rodriguez warned those new measures could negatively impact enrollment and graduation rates.
“We’re the only state in the country to see enrollment increases now four years in a row, but if we do lose our graduate students, those numbers can be impacted,” she said.
Colleges And Universities Under Pressure
Lower student aid and enrollment could also put additional budget pressures on New Mexico colleges and universities who are already facing about $123 million in federal funding cuts in the current calendar year.
“Across the board, we’re seeing a decrease and cut of $122.9 million,” Rodriguez said. As of Oct. 31, those cuts in the current calendar year were due to grant cancellations, stop-work orders, project delays and terminations or program suspensions brought on by the federal government.
Of that funding, $94.5 million was from federal support to New Mexico’s four research universities, including $60.8 million in energy technology research grants and $10.82 million from the National Science Foundation. Branch community colleges lost $14.12 million, independent community colleges and $5.69 million.
Two in-state tribal colleges and universities have reported lost funding of $4.5 million, including $3.7 million in diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, grants, at Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint.
Rodriguez said over the summer the Trump administration considered slashing funding to the nation’s tribal colleges by as much as 90%, which would have forced many of them to close, but the final federal budget maintained current levels, for now.