water

Mary Ann Goins

A pueblo harvest

• growers markets
• bernalillo
• peaches
• produce
• green chile
• san felipe
• joe moody
• la bajada
• water
• food and beverage
• locavore
• locovore
• review
• restaurant

Everyone knows arsenic is a poison, but did you know it's in your water too? Low levels of arsenic in your glass are naturally occurring. The Environmental Protection Agency says that drinking water must have fewer than 10 parts per billion of arsenic to prevent harmful effects of long-term exposure. According to the 2010 report by the Albuquerque Bernalillo Water Utility Authority, these water zones have as high as 8 parts of arsenic per billion. It’s worth keeping an eye on. Check your zone here: bit.ly/abqarsenicwater. (EK)

• abq danger map!
• water
• arsenic
• epa
• albuquerque bernalillo water utility authority
• survival guide 2011

Kirtland Air Force Base is a morass of frightening stuff—namely, nuclear weapons and a massive jet fuel hemorrhage. Although Air Force head honchos neither confirm nor deny numbers, an estimated 2,000 nuclear warheads lie in underground storage at the base. If the threat of a Duke City nuclear holocaust isn’t enough, there’s also Albuquerque’s version of the BP spill. Millions of gallons of Air Force jet fuel creep closer and closer to southeastern Albuquerque neighborhoods every day. The base says the fuel seepage originated during a ’50s era pipe leak. Although it hasn’t hit drinking water wells, it has reached the monitoring wells and is nearing reserve water sources. (EK)

• abq danger map!
• kirtland air force base
• nuclear
• water
• southeast albuquerque
• jet fuel
• survival guide 2011

The EPA says the Sandia Labs Mixed Waste Landfill isn’t a threat, but a 2011 report by Citizen Action says otherwise. The mixed-waste landfill lies directly above the main source of water for 600,000 Albuquerque residents. From 1959 to 1988 the landfill was used for disposal of low-level radioactive materials. Contaminants include nickel, cadmium, nitrate and chromium, all of which can cause nasty health problems with overexposure. What’s more, Mesa del Sol—a “green” community development touting that its “respect for the environment result[s] in a healthier, simpler, more sustainable way to live”—just broke ground adjacent to the site. (EK)

• abq danger map!
• sandia labs mixed waste landfill
• epa
• citizen action
• mesa del sol
• radioactive
• landfill
• water
• kirtland air force base
• sandia labs
• survival guide 2011

A Superfund site is a polluted area that the federal government has determined is harmful to public health or the environment and is in need of immediate cleanup efforts. Lucky Albuquerque has three.

• abq danger map!
• albuquerque superfund sites
• epa
• south valley superfund site
• at&sf
• fruit avenue plume
• nuclear
• water
• survival guide 2011

Where the water is