EPA to investigate ABQ City Council over alleged civil rights violations

The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the Albuquerque City Council for possible human rights violations.

The investigation comes after the New Mexico Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association, Mountain View Community Action and Friends of Valle de Oro filed a civil rights complaint in May 2024 against the City and City Council over their alleged interference in rulemaking around the area’s air quality.

The agency will investigate if the council’s actions “discriminated against persons in Albuquerque on the basis of race, color, and national origin” by preventing the adoption of an Air Board rule — the Health, Environment, and Equity Impacts Rule — it said in a letter Friday.

The South Valley, where Mountain View is located, is 81% Latino and 20% of its population lives in poverty, according to U.S. Census data.

“Albuquerque’s communities of color and low-income communities are exposed to higher concentrations of environmental toxins and pollutants than white, more affluent communities, contributing to higher rates of cancer, heart disease, respiratory-related illnesses,” the initial complaint stated.

“We share the concern that our frontline communities are overburdened by pollution and warned that council’s interference would bring legal challenges,” city spokesperson Staci Drangmeister said in a statement.

The neighborhood has not been top of mind for the city and Bernalillo County as pollutive industries in the area have flourished, said Genevieve Chavez Mitchell, president of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association.

“The Health, Environment, and Equity Impacts rule was designed to help neighborhoods like Mountain View, who have historically been, for lack of a better word, the environmental dumping grounds for the city and the county,” Chavez Mitchell said.

The neighborhood association statement includes harsh remarks directed at Councilor Dan Lewis.

Lewis declined to comment Friday.

“We’ve been trying to get some clean air here in Mountain View in this community for going on 25 years, and we’ve been trying to work with the city and the county to get help,” said Lauro Silva, a 79-year-old who has lived in Mountain View for 30 years.