Twenty of 23 species sampled at Holloman ‘heavily contaminated’ with PFAS

I became an environmental reporter for a few different reasons, including because my favorite place is outside (doesn’t matter where outside, just as long as it’s outside). In general, over the past few years, I’ve been spending way too much time staring at a screen. But last week? Last week was great.

On Monday, I joined my friend Jamie Phillips, who does all kinds of cool things, teaching kids how to kayak and sharing his love of rivers. Along with members of the Whitewater Adobe Club, Jamie brought a bunch of high schoolers and their families to Cochiti Lake. It was the students’ first time on the open water after learning how to paddle, roll, and control their boats in a pool.

And because Cochiti Dam holds a painful and unjust legacy, it was important for the students to hear a history lesson from Phoebe Suina, a member of the Pueblo of Cochiti and a hydrologist. If you don’t know the history of Cochiti Dam, I’d suggest starting here.

Then, on Tuesday, I spent the morning at Los Padillas Wildlife Sancturary with third graders from Carlos Rey Elementary School in Albuquerque. All third graders in the Albuquerque Public Schools system participate in the Community, Place, and Habitat program at Los Padillas in the South Valley. I don’t know if my favorite part was watching the kids learn how to read maps and use compasses or seeing them snapping cottonwood twigs to see the stars inside. Regardless, it was a great morning and I’m thankful for the chance to have hung out with the students and teachers—outside and away from computers. 

I don’t want to write about how warm it’s been. But I realized last night—before bed, when I noticed the forecasted low for the night in Albuquerque was 51 degrees—that I have to mention it. Out on Cochiti Lake, we all got sunburned in the 60+ degree weather. At Los Padillas last Tuesday, the kids watched a small native bee try to reach the blue sugary drink in someone’s lunch bag. It’s too warm, too early. The birds in my neighborhood started singing weeks ago. Poppies and sunflowers are sprouting, but of course there aren’t any blooms out for the too-early bees and mourning cloak butterflies. (Except for one tiny deadnettle.) And…the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District started its irrigation season this week. That’s good news for farmers hoping to soak parched orchards and perhaps take advantage of early warm weather and get an early cutting of alfalfa. But it’s bad news for the Rio Grande, which is already running below the 16-year median in many places, from the Alameda Bridge to San Antonio. 

Now, catching up on the news: 

• “They lost everything in New Mexico’s biggest wildfire. Now they’re sounding the alarm for others.” (Patrick Lohmann, Byard Duncan, Adria Malcolm, ProPublica and Source New Mexico)

• “Another New Mexico Legislative Session Ends, and Again — No New Oil and Gas Reforms” (Jerry Redfern, Capital & Main)

• “The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death” (Mark Olalde and Nick Bowlin, ProPublica and Capital & Main) 

• “How freeing rivers can help California ease flood risks and revive ecosystems” (Ian James, Los Angeles Times)

• “Federal regulators deny permits for hydropower projects on Navajo Nation” (Alex Hager, KUNC)

• “When PFAS hits home: Poisoned wells in La Cieneguilla” (Ed Williams, Searchlight New Mexico)

• “Official recommends PRC reject N.M. Gas’ plans for storage facility in Rio Rancho” (Nicholas Gilmore, Santa Fe New Mexican)

• “UNM study finds Santolina developers ‘likely overstated’ goals” (Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico)

• “Oil and Gas Donations Shifting Away From Republicans in New Mexico” (Jerry Redfern, Capital & Main)

• “Climate Competition” (Mo Charnot, Santa Fe Reporter)

• “During climate chaos, a witness and champion of the West” (Jenny Shank’s interview with author Laura Pritchett, High Country News)

• “Public overwhelmingly voices opposition to nuclear lab transmission line project” (Bryce Dix, KUNM)

Also check out the letter the Los Alamos Study Group sent to the New Mexico congressional delegation last month, noting that “more effective oversight [of Los Alamos National Laboratory] is badly needed.” 

LASG co-founder Greg Mello’s letter to the congressional delegation is a must-read to understand the complexities of the lab and the ways in which the nuclear weapons laboratory operates—and the dire need for congressional oversight that goes beyond tacking more money onto the nuclear weapons budget.

Meanwhile, Physicians for Social Responsibility announced that the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons issued a new report looking at private investment in the production, maintenance, or modernization of nuclear weapons. Although federal taxpayers foot the bill for nuclear weapons work (and cleanup), nuclear weapons manufacturers need private funding for some parts of the development process. According to the press release:

“Together, investors held $477 billion in shares and bonds in 24 nuclear weapons producing companies, and $434 billion was provided in loans and underwriting. These 24 companies are involved in activities outlawed under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force in 2021. 

Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics were the worst offenders, holding outstanding contracts with a potential value of $21.2 billion and $23.7 billion respectively. U.S. investors continue to dominate while there are almost no investments from banks in TPNW signatory countries.” 

You can read the full report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons online. 

Lastly, when I first started covering the Air Force’s contamination of groundwater with PFAS—back in 2018 and 2019—I wondered about contamination of Holloman Lakes, a really important wetland for ducks and other migrating birds. 

Now—no thanks to the military—there are answers. 

In a newly published study in Environmental Research, the University of New Mexico’s Christopher Witt and others show just how much the Holloman Air Force Base has contaminated wildlife species. (Just a reminder that PFAS bioaccumulate and move up the food chain.) The researchers tested for concentrations of 17 different types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in more than 2,000 samples of 23 different species of mammals and migratory birds at Holloman Lakes. 

What did they learn?

That twenty of 23 species sampled at Holloman were “heavily contaminated.”

And, the authors write: “In sum, legacy PFAS at this desert oasis have permeated local aquatic and terrestrial food webs across decades, severely contaminating populations of resident and migrant animals, and exposing people via game meat consumption and outdoor recreation.”

You can read the study itself here and a press release from UNM online, too. And if you need a little reminder about PFAS contamination at Holloman, check out our explainer video from three years ago.

Now, go outside. You deserve it.

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