Last Wednesday, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Board ruled against SWOP’s (Southwest Organizing Project) request for a public hearing. SWOP and community members were hoping the board would set a future meeting to consider a new rule to require a cumulative air quality impact analysis in the permitting process.
“Cumulative impacts” appeared to stump some members of the board. When a new industry moves into the neighborhood today, the applicant provides information about the types and amount of pollutants that will spew from his own smokestack. SWOP’s draft rule would have required the air quality board to consider the pollutants coming from all of the smokestacks in the neighborhood; hence “cumulative impacts.” Not so important for neighborhoods without many polluting industries, but the San Jose and Mountain View communities in Albuquerque’s South Valley have at least 84 permitted facilities polluting in their neighborhoods.
Low-income communities of color often bear a heavier burden from pollution than their more affluent neighbors. After collecting air quality samples for a year, SWOP and community members learned that San Jose and Mountain View have chlorobenzene levels far above the EPA’s acceptable levels, and more than 10 times what would be expected in urban ambient air. A supporter of SWOP’s proposal, Esther Abeyta, informed the board that their neighborhoods represented 1% of the city’s population but contained 28% of the city’s polluting industry.
Wednesday’s meeting was not to consider the draft rule at all, but simply a meeting to decide whether to have a future public hearing on the proposal. The old stalwarts representing the business community – Association of Commerce and Industry, Chamber of Commerce, NAIOP and the Central New Mexico Homebuilders Association – convinced six of the seven appointed board members that the proposed rule would be a burden on their businesses and a drag on the economy. Only Dr. Robert Goldstein supported SWOP’s request for a hearing.
A city staff member also recommended that the board deny the request for a public hearing. Carol Parker boldly announced that “air quality doesn’t contribute to health outcomes.” She opined that the proposed rule would be burdensome to applicants and “would make demands on” the city department charged with reviewing permit applications.
Several speakers believed that SWOP’s concerns about cumulative air quality in the San Jose and Mountain View communities didn’t belong at the air quality board at all but should more appropriately be addressed as a land use issue by zoning and planning staff. Nearly everyone in the room, however, remembered that a draft Mountain View Sector Development Plan was supported by the community members in 2008 but effectively killed by businesses and industry with similar arguments as they presented on Wednesday evening.
Garrett Development Corp. and Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC also chimed in to oppose SWOP’s request. They’re making big plans for a new community on 53,000 acres west of Albuquerque with industry, shopping, and homes, and don’t want additional burdensome regulations to slow down their march towards progress. On March 26, the Bernalillo County Planning Commission will be considering their Santolina Master Plan for approximately 13,700 acres of this new community.
The board’s rejection of SWOP’s request didn’t appear to surprise many in the audience. SWOP and community members have experienced the board’s knee-jerk, pro-business rhetoric in their past attempts to seek relief from polluting industries. The business community had good reason to expect this business-friendly board would adhere to their wishes. Passing the buck is a common phenomenon in the City and the County.
(Image derived from photo by Eric Schmuttenmaer)
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