New Mexico Environmental Law Center

04/08/2025

https://sourcenm.com/2025/04/07/uranium-transport-through-native-nation-sparks-concerns-in-new-mexico/

"Uranium mining between the 1940s and the 1970s in and around the Navajo Nation left cancer and pollution in its wake. Companies operating in the area back then abandoned hundreds of uranium mines that continue to poison groundwater and otherwise hurt public health.

"So the prospect of new mining and its transport has incensed members of the Navajo Nation, Antonio said. At a meeting late last month at the Mexican Water Chapter in Utah, one elder woman spoke up to say, in Navajo, that the agreement amounted to the tribe killing the Navajo way of life without members’ input.

“'You agreed to kill our whole Navajo universe without our consent,' the elder said, according to Antonio’s translation. ..."

A provision in the secret, controversial agreement allowing a private company to transport uranium ore across the Arizona side of the Navajo Nation has New Mexico anti-nuclear advocates increasingly worried about the prospect of new mining activity near a mountain sacred to the Navajo people. The Na...

04/08/2025

URGENT Call to Action!

The House is now hearing H.R. 1526 - The No Rogue Rulings Act which would severely restrict the ability of federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions, weakening one of the most powerful tools courts have to prevent executive overreach and protect constitutional rights.

Call your Congressional Representative now and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 1526, the No Rogue Rulings Act!

NMELC Legal Director Eric Jantz said, “This legislation is the first step in eliminating the rule of law. Let us raise our voices against this frontal assault on the judiciary."

04/08/2025

🚰 Environmental Justice IS Protecting Public Health.

This week is National Public Health Week. In Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, families have spent years living with unsafe water—yellow, poisonous, stinky, slimy—and no answers.

At NMELC, we believe that no child should grow up in a home without safe, clean water. That no family should be forced to buy bottled water just to survive.

This Earth Month, we’re standing with frontline communities across New Mexico to demand clean and safe drinking water, accountability, and justice.

🌍 Protect our people. Protect our water. Protect New Mexico.

👉 Join us in the fight: nmelc.org/donations

04/04/2025

Help us Defend and Protect Mother Earth!
Every single day of the year NMELC honors our Earth by defending our clients and communities in the fight for environmental justice.

Become an Earth Defender! NMELC believes every day is , so this year we’re celebrating Earth Month!

Protecting our Mother Earth means standing alongside the people of New Mexico in demanding every individual deserves their fundamental human right to clean air, land, and water. Now more than ever, the legal work provided by NMELC to protect communities bearing the brunt of environmental harm has become even more critical.

That is why as we celebrate Earth Month 2025, we’re inviting YOU to invest in our critical work so that our legal services continue uninterrupted. We are excited to announce that all donations $25 and up received during Earth Month will automatically enter you to be part of our Earth Month Raffle! ! 👉: nmelc.org/donations.

Prize winners will be announced at the end of April!
INVITATION TO BUSINESS PARTNERS!! If you have a business, we invite you to consider donating any of your wonderful goods or services to this month-long raffle!

04/01/2025

🛑 Environmental Justice IS Defending Human Rights.

We fight so future generations don’t have to grow up with poison in their water, land, and air. But we can’t do it without you.

At NMELC, we spend every day honoring Mother Earth. Your support helps us stand alongside frontline communities to achieve lasting change in the fight for people and the planet.

With your support, we can continue standing alongside our clients and working to ensure every New Mexican has access to the clean air, land, and water they deserve. Join us in protecting New Mexico’s children, families, and communities this Earth Month!

🌎 This Earth Month, stand with us. Stand with communities like Terry’s. Defend Human Rights.

👉 Donate today to help us keep fighting: nmelc.org/donations

03/31/2025

Environmental justice is social justice. This , we honor his legacy by continuing the fight for clean air, safe water, and healthy communities for all. ¡Sí se puede! 🌿✊

03/25/2025

03/22/2025

💧 Water is life, but in New Mexico, it’s at risk.

With 95% of our surface waters losing federal protection, 300+ contaminated sites, and weak state enforcement, we need action to safeguard our water.

SB 21 is a proposed law that would give New Mexico control over regulating surface water pollution instead of relying on the federal government. It aims to strengthen water protections, enforce permits, and hold polluters accountable.

The bill has just passed through the Legislature and could become law if signed by the governor.

Stronger protections = cleaner water for our communities.

Sources:
-New Mexico Environment
-Department (NMED)
-Legislative Finance Committee (LFC)
-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

03/19/2025

03/14/2025

HB-9, the Immigrant Safety Act, will be heard in Senate Healthy & Public Affairs today at 1:30pm.

The Immigrant Safety Act (HB9) is on the agenda for the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee today! This is a huge step forward in our fight to get New Mexico’s out of the business of immigrant detention. Together, we are proving that collective action works. Now, we keep going to make sure HB 9 moves forward and across the finish line.

Join Us in showing unity at the hearing today! We need to continue to show up in full force to demonstrate the broad support for HB 9.

Where: Roundhouse Room 311
When: March 14, 2025 – 30 minutes after the Senate Adjourns on the floor (estimated time: 1:30pm)!

Thank you for showing up, for speaking out, and for believing in a New Mexico that is no longer complicit in the detention of immigrants!

03/13/2025

We are so thankful to have received a donation from the 5th grade students at Mountain Mahogany Community School for the second year in a row!

The students connected Human Rights to a variety of social issues, including Environmental Justice in New Mexico. One student even researched water issues in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, NM!

We helped continue their learning on environmental justice with an classroom visit! Staff headed to the school and gave the bright students a rundown on EJ, and what impacts the legacy of environmental racism has left on our state. More details to come!

Young people are donors! We are excited to see the next generation eager to make a positive impact in their communities! If any other junior philanthropists or teachers want to learn about fundraising, send us an email at [email protected]

03/11/2025

Call to Action to attend the Air Quality Control Board tomorrow, Weds, March 12th at 5:30pm in support of the Mountain View Coalition and the HEEI rule.

03/11/2025

NMELC works alongside Empowerment Congress - Congreso de Empoderamiento fighting for clean and safe drinking water in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa. Stay updated on this case by signing up for our twice a month emails/eblasts at https://nmelc.org/sign-up/

03/10/2025

Our clients in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa spoke during public comment at this morning’s CRRUA Board meeting, sharing 5 demands about water quality that NMELC attorney Kacey Hovden submitted last week Friday on behalf of Empowerment Congress - Congreso de Empoderamiento.

Multiple media outlets from Las Cruces and El Paso showed up. Here’s one story from KVIA-Channel 7/ABC News (link in bio/story).

03/10/2025

Our clients in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa spoke during public comment at this morning's CRRUA Board meeting, sharing 5 demands about water quality that NMELC attorney Kacey Hovden submitted last week Friday on behalf of Empowerment Congress - Congreso de Empoderamiento. Multiple media outlets from Las Cruces and El Paso showed up. Here's one story from KVIA-Channel 7/ABC News.

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) — Several Sunland Park spoke at Monday’s Camino Real Regional Utility Authority board meeting, demanding clean water, regular testing and no changes to the rate over the next four years. The meeting comes just three days after the New Mexico Environment Department...

03/09/2025

CALL TO ACTION: The Mountain View Coalition and NMELC invite you to attend the next Air Quality Control Board meeting on Wednesday, March 12th at 5:30pm and make a public comment urging the Air Board to ask the City of Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department (EHD) why the third and Final version of the Overburdened Areas Map issued last month as part of the requirement of the HEEI regulation does not designate Mountain View as an overburdened area.

EHD removed Mountain View as an overburdened community without any explanation or statement about what methodology they used.

NMELC submitted a formal written comment to EHD on behalf of the Mountain View Coalition objecting to the Final version of the map, which you can read here:https://nmelc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/FINAL-Comment-on-OBA-Map.pdf

03/08/2025

🌿✊ On this International Women's Day, we celebrate all women who fight for justice, land, and human rights across the globe—including the amazing women in our organization who work every day to defend communities and fight for Environmental Justice. We are proud to be a women-majority team, standing in solidarity with movements led by powerful women everywhere.

Today we would also like to honor Berta Cáceres—a fearless Indigenous leader who fought for environmental justice and Indigenous rights in Honduras.

Her activism against the destructive Agua Zarca Dam cost her life, but her legacy continues to inspire movements worldwide.

Sources:
-Goldman Environmental Prize (goldmanprize.org)
-The Guardian (theguardian.com)
-Democracy Now! (democracynow.org)
-Local knowledge: Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center

03/07/2025

Community Power in Action!

Thanks to the powerful voices of Red Water Pond Road residents, MASE, and allies, SB-316—an attempt to halt uranium cleanup—was tabled on Feb. 18th!

This bill would have forced communities to live with toxic waste indefinitely instead of ensuring safe disposal. But the people spoke, and they won! 💪

We are monitoring to make sure this bill is not reintroduced.