Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — The American Lung Association has released the new State of the Air report, including rankings for the Albuquerque/Santa Fe/Los Alamos metro area and the Las Cruces/El Paso metro area and the news isn’t very good. According to the report, the Albuquerque metro is the 19th worst in the country for ozone pollution up from 22nd, and the Las Cruces/El Paso metro area was ranked 16th worst in the country. Although, for Las Cruces, the New Mexico Environment Department recognizes that much of the pollution comes from across the border in Ciudad Juarez part of the Paso del Norte Air Basin. Also, vehicles spending long hours waiting to cross the international bridges at the border contribute significantly to the pollution.
In the Albuquerque, Santa Fe/Los Alamos region, residents are being exposed to very unhealthy ground level pollution. Part of that report which is for 2022-2024, includes large numbers of forest fires as the primary reason for the low grade.
