I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The New York Times on Sunday published a jaw-dropping story on the lax enforcement of water laws by municipalities, states and the federal government. In “Toxic Waters,” The Times reported that “…Last year, 40 percent of the nation’s community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once.”
“In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses,” author and native New Mexican Charles Duhigg wrote.
According to the story, most polluters have not been punished for their violations, however, because of weak enforcement by state and federal officials.
The violations occurred across the nation, and across many jurisdictions. It was unclear how New Mexico stacked up in enforcement, however. The state wasn’t mentioned in the story.
But if you’re curious, the Times created a national database of violations from the hundreds of thousands of water pollution records it received through Freedom of Information Act requests to every state and the E.P.A. You can visit for an interactive version of the database, which shows violations in any community.
In addition to the hundreds of thousands of documents, The Times interviewed more than 250 state and federal regulators, water-system managers, environmental advocates and scientists. According to the paper’s research, an estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways.
I read the story and I recommend it to anyone. It stands in the long tradition of great journalism.
