Latest news with #Alamogordo
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Land access near Holloman Air Force Base to temporarily close due to PFAS levels
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) — To protect the public from potential PFAS exposure, land surrounding the Holloman Evaporation Pond near the Holloman Air Force Base will temporarily close starting Aug. 14. To some, it might look like a lake you'd want to go swimming in. However, taking a closer look shows otherwise. PFAS levels near Holloman AFB at record high 'Given the recent scientific evolution of it becoming a hazardous substance about a year ago and especially with it just last month being found in the soil surrounding the lake is what drove us to implement this closure that is coming up in 30 days,' said Colonel John Ethridge, Commander of the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base. Also known as 'Holloman Lake,' the Holloman Evaporation Pond and the land around it near the air force base will be closing to public access on Aug. 14. The base said it's to protect people from forever chemicals called 'PFAS.' Which are linked to health problems. The land was initially transferred through the 1995 National Defense Authorization Act to the Department of the Air Force from the Department of the Interior. PFAS chemicals found in the soil and water are at least partly linked to the prior use of Aqueous Film Forming Foam products in firefighting operations and training programs on base, according to the public affairs office of Holloman Air Force Base. In June, UNM researchers found PFAS levels at the site are at the highest levels recorded anywhere. The area is a wastewater treatment facility and was not meant for recreational use. For years however, people have been allowed to visit Holloman Lake. Report reveals record-breaking levels of PFAS at Holloman Lake The air force base said concerns over PFAS levels have lead to changes over the years including more fencing to prevent animals getting access to the water. They also ended their hunting program in 2019 and prohibited all recreational activities in the water. Recent research showing PFAS chemicals in the nearby soil is what pushed the base to close the pond at least for the next two years. Wildlife at Holloman AFB have high levels of chemical contamination, UNM study says 'Ultimately the timeline for reopening the area will be dependent on the evolution of that science and our ability to clean up and remove the PFAS from the area,' added Colonel Ethridge. The base said their water and water for Alamogordo and surrounding areas has not been affected by the PFAS at the lake. Reacting to the closure, the New Mexico Environment Department sent KRQE this statement: 'This is a clear admission that the U.S. Air Force poisoned Holloman Lake with toxic PFAS. With world-record-breaking contamination documented in the lake's wildlife and plants, the time for cleanup is now.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Gizmodo
80 Years After the Trinity Atomic Blast, New Mexico's Downwinders May Finally See Reparations
Eighty years after the Trinity Test brought nuclear fallout to their communities, New Mexico residents living downstream of the test may finally be eligible for long-sought reparations. In the early hours of July 16, 1945, the U.S. Army detonated the world's first atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Radioactive ash soon began to fall over large swaths of the surrounding regions. Since then, survivors of the U.S. federal government's nuclear testing program and the state's uranium mining industries have watched their friends and family members die from rare cancers. Multiple generations affected by the nuclear program have spent decades seeking recognition and reparations. A measure in the recently passed Republican spending bill expands eligibility for a program that compensates those with health problems linked to radiation exposure, including downwinders of the Trinity Test. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), first passed in 1990, provided compensation to people who contracted certain cancers and other diseases due to radiation exposure from its many nuclear weapons tests or uranium mining. It initially excluded New Mexico residents downwind of the Trinity Test, many of whom were Hispanic residents and Mescalero Apache tribal members, as well as those who worked in the industry after RECA's coverage period (post-1971). RECA expired last year, even after survivors advocated for its expansion. In a statement released ahead of the anniversary of the test, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M), who has worked to pass legislation expanding RECA, wrote that there are 'eight decades of pain, loss, and injustice for the victims still living with the fallout of nuclear testing and uranium mining.' The U.S. government never warned the communities near the blast site, never evacuated residents, nor informed them about the potential health consequences. The military described the blast as an accident involving ammunition and pyrotechnics at the time. Those living near the blast only learned about the test after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Advocates say the new extension isn't enough. 'The two-year extension will not be long enough for us to get everybody enrolled that should be enrolled, and the health care coverage was stripped out,' Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said on a call with reporters last week, according to USA Today. Under the new extension, Trinity survivors can apply for $100,000 in damages. On its website, the U.S. Justice Department is advising the public to wait 'for further guidance' before filing a claim. 'My dad should still be here; $100,000 pales in comparison to who he was, and who he used to be to us,' Cordova told Source NM. 'I don't want to sound ungrateful, I don't want to minimize what it means, but that's not justice. That's the beginning of justice—it's a step forward in the right direction.'
The Independent
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Migrants face a novel criminal charge in new border zone in New Mexico
Immigrants recently detained in southernmost New Mexico now face a novel criminal charge of breaching a national defense area, after the U.S. Army assumed oversight of a 170-mile (274-kilometer) strip along the southern U.S. border in cooperation with immigration authorities. Federal prosecutors on Monday applied the additional charge for incursions into the recently designated New Mexico National Defense Area against migrants detained by Customs and Border Protection, as the military scales up troop deployments to a sliver of U.S. borderlands that is now being treated as an extension of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Huachuca in Arizona. The Trump administration says those soldiers have the authority to temporarily apprehend trespassers, amid efforts to get around a federal law that prohibits U.S. troops from being used in domestic law enforcement on American soil. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth highlighted the changes Friday while visiting troops at the New Mexico border. 'Any illegal attempting to enter that zone is entering a military base, a federally protected area,' he said alongside a border wall, in a video posted social media. 'You will be interdicted by U.S. troops and Border Patrol.' New Mexico-based ACLU attorney Rebecca Sheff warned that the military buffer zone 'represents a dangerous erosion of the constitutional principle that the military should not be policing civilians." She expressed concern that U.S. citizens that live near the border could be prosecuted under the same provisions. The charges against at least a half-dozen immigrants for unauthorized entry on military defense property were signed by U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, an Alamogordo, New Mexico-native sworn into office April 18. Troops are prohibited from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil under the Posse Comitatus Act. An exception known as the military purpose doctrine allows it in some cases. The newly militarized corridor includes the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot-wide (18-meter-wide) federal buffer zone that ribbons along the border, except where it encounters tribal or privately owned land. Control of the Roosevelt Reservation was transferred in mid-April from the Interior Department to the Defense Department in a presidential memo. The Interior Department also has designated areas beyond the Roosevelt Reservation for transfer to military oversight. Since then, the Army has announced several military deployments to augment surveillance, expand roadways and shore up barriers at the border. ___ Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas.
