Environmental Health Concerns of Southern New Mexico

Position Paper

Prepared by Environmental Health Committee

New Mexico Border Health Council

July 1999

Definition:

Environmental Health and protection is the art and science of protecting against environmental factors that may adversely impact human health or the ecological balances essential to long term human health and environmental quality. Such factors include, but are not limited to, air, food and water contaminants, radiation, toxic chemicals; wastes; disease vectors; safety hazards, and habitat alterations.

Environmental Health Committee Background:

The Environmental Health Committee (EHC) of the New Mexico Border Health Council, whose members represent their communities, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies, held several facilitated sessions in February-March 1998 to identify what it considered to be the most important environmental health issues in Southern New Mexico. These identified priorities were reviewed again by the committee in July 1999. Because the priorities are representative of the southern border area and its particular population demographics and environmental situation, they may differ from the central and northern portions of New Mexico.

The issues which were identified as areas of concern are:

Water quality/quantity
Environmental health education
Air quality
Environmental policy development
Pesticide use
 

Following our July review, EHC has itemized concern under each of these broad headings.

1. Water quality/quantity:

a) About 90% of area resident’s drinking water are being managed. Publiic
drinking water supplies are regularly tested by the New Mexico Environment
department. The New Mexico Dept. of Health recently tested private drinking
water wells. Therefore, we are generally knowledgeable about contaminants
and their concentrations within drinking water supplies;

a)Threats to the ground water and drinking water supplies can come from concen-
trated animal feedlot operation wastes, such as dairies and poultry farms,
agricultural chemical runoff, increasing industrial development, and increases in
the number of spetic system installations;

b)A future problem to drinking water supplies may develop from increasing
concentrations of naturally-occurring arsenic, uranium and fluoride in
area ground water; and

c)The water quality situation is complex and involves future use of surface
water to supplement drinking water supplies, transfers of water rights from
farmers to municipalities, and limitations of population growth, due to limited
ground water resources. Several institutions and agencies are addressing
water quality issues. These agencies include: Elephant Butte Irrigation
District, State Engineer’s Office, United States Geological Survey and New
Mexico-Texas Water Commission.

2. Environmental health education:

Education of the public regarding all the identified environmental health issues is of
primary importance. A sub-committee suggested several methods to educate the
public. These methods include:

a)Train community members in environmental health issues such as solid waste,
water contamination and its ramifications for each community, pesiticide exposure,
and hazardous waste. An action plan produced by professionals and community
residents should be implemented to resolve pertinent environmental health
problems;

b) Develop bi-lingual environmental health directory that would include a list
of agency contacts that protect the environment. County residents could
use this directory to report violations and to gather information about environmental problems;

c) Conduct surveys in rural communities to identify their environmental health concerns; andd) Develop a bi-lingual environmental health curriculum.

3. Air quality:

a) Increasing concentrations of ozone within Dona Ana County:

b) Designation of Dona Ana County as non-attainment area for PM10 by
Environmental Protection Agency;

c) Non-enforcement of current regulations due to manpower shortages;

d) Potential correlation between PM10 and asthma;

e)Diminished quality of life due to poor air quality poor and its impact on economic
development; and

f) Implementation of auto emissions testing program within Dona Ana County.

4. Environmental policy development:

a)Knowledge of local, state and federal regulations and how they affect the
environmental health of the area;
                    -water quality
                    - air quality
                    - land use, zoning regulations with regard to industrial and agricultural land development
                    - growth and development policies

b) Active advocacy of policies which protect the environment; and

c) Education of public with regard to changes in policy which will affect the
environment of the area.

5. Pesticide Use:

a)There is inaccurate knowledge of pesticide application practices, names
Of pesticides being applied, and quantity of pesticide application;

b)The New Mexico Dept of Agriculture does not currently require farmers to report
On location and type of pesticide use, nor is there a community right-to-know
Policy regarding pesticide use on adjacent property, even though there may be
An advantage to publicizing a farmer’s use of biologicals and other
Environmentally safe pesticide management practices; and

c)The public should receive education on safe pesticide household use and proper
Disposal practices of pesticides.

Several other environmental health priority areas were added to the list of initial
Environmental health priorities following the Committee’s July 1999 review. There
Priorities include:

1. Food safety;
2. Mosquito related diseases/vector control;
3. Lack of enforcement of existing regulations that protect the environment;
4. Illegal dumping; and
5.Transboundary shipment of hazardous waste and clean-up in event of a spill.