Pueblo of Isleta calls on local, state officials to discuss industry in area following weekend plastics storage fire
Aug. 9—The massive weekend fire at a plastics storage facility prompted the governor of the Pueblo of Isleta to call for a meeting to discuss the fire and growing industrial development in southern Bernalillo County.
"As industry continues to expand in Albuquerque's South Valley region, including in the Mesa del Sol development area, residents and surrounding jurisdictions need to know that their health, safety, and the environment will be protected," Isleta Pueblo Gov. Max Zuni said in a news release. "When Mesa del Sol was first planned, it was billed as an area for housing, retail, and office-space. Now, however, it houses industrial facilities, which impacts all of Mesa del Sol's neighbors, including the Pueblo of Isleta."
Sunday's fire was located just north of the Pueblo. In a letter to state and local officials, Zuni cited messages from community members about toxic odors and health concerns. The fire burned both new products and small bits of plastic being recycled at the facility.
Ramona Montoya, a representative of the Pueblo's Environment Division, said the view of the fire was "quite threatening."
"At first, our community did not know what was burning," Montoya said in an interview. "...We were not aware that there was a plastic manufacturing plant located on Mesa del Sol."
On Monday, she continued, the Pueblo was told by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that resin material, diesel fuel, fuel oil and propane could have been among the burning materials. Montoya said as the Pueblo is downstream and downwind from the burned area, air pollutants, including burned particles, could fall farther south or into the Rio Grande.
On Sunday evening, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Program issued a health advisory due to the fire. The Isleta Fire Department sent out a similar warning.
In the letter, Zuni wrote that besides some initial, emergency communications, the Pueblo has received "no further guidance" on the long-term impacts of the pollutants burned in the fire.
"The threat isn't over just because the fire is out," Zuni said in the news release. "The substances used to put out the flames has to go somewhere. It seeps into the ground or flows into the Rio Grande. And Isleta is downstream."
Zuni invited officials, including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, state Sens. Michael Padilla and Greg Baca and representatives of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board and Albuquerque Air Quality Program, to attend an Aug. 21 meeting. The intergovernmental meeting is not open to the public. Montoya said the meeting will discuss environmental protections and enforcement currently in place, address expanding industry and look forward to tackling environmental concerns. The letter was sent out Tuesday, and some officials have already said they would attend, Montoya said.
"There are quite a few unknowns," Montoya said. "We need some answers."
