Introduction
This web page was created to serve as a technical resource
for NMED staff and the general public alike. Internal and external
links to a large amount of useful information have been assembled into
this single location. On-line Health Advisories, reports, publications,
educational tools, maps, chemical data bases, and downloadable modeling
software are accessible. The vast majority of this information is
totally free.
Picture Caption. NMED scientists Dennis McQuillan
and Jennifer Parker perform field tests at a monitoring well. Ground
water at this site, the Santa Fe railyard, is contaminated with gasoline
and tetrachloroethylene, a dry cleaning fluid. A portable submersible
pump is lowered into the well. Dennis tests a water sample for electrical
conductivity, a measure of the mineral content, while Jennifer uses a flame
ionization detector to test for organic vapor.
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While every effort was made to link to credible and accurate sources of information, NMED provides no guarantee of the accuracy of information provided by external links. The reference and linkage to commercial web sites does not constitute NMED endorsement of their products and services.
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Health Advisories and Standards
NMED
Fish
Consumption Guidelines Due to Mercury Contamination.Return
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Reports and Publications Written materials prepared by the New Mexico Environment Department may be reproduced without further permission provided that proper credit is given.
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Public Information, Education, and Outreach Tools
General Tools
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Tools for Kids
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Site and Field-Monitoring Databases
Useful information about chemical and physical properties, chemical uses, hazards, toxicity, and environmental behavior and fate can be obtained through the following external links. While some data bases are highly recommended, if you are researching a particular element or chemical it is suggested that you explore all relevant web sites.
Periodic Table of the Elements:
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Physical, Chemical, and Environmental Data:
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Chemical
Hazard and Toxicity Databases:
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Images
and Maps
Picture Caption. Planet Earth as seen from
the moon. The NASA Office of Earth Sciences has a searchable archive
of Astronaut Photography of Earth.
Here is a panoramic image of the Earth
at night. The Living Earth,
Inc. has two interactive, 3-D, satellite-imaging programs. Earth
Viewer, created primarily for elementary school students, shows the
daytime and nighttime portions of the Earth for any day of the year and
can be animated. The Earth
and Moon Viewer offers a large selection of satellite imagery views.
The Roswell Daily Record has a web site about the 1947
UFO
incident. To report a UFO sighting, go here.
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and Maps a la Carte, Inc. have worked with the U.S. Geological Survey to
create an interactive topographic map for the entire United States.
Maps may be downloaded for free for some non-commercial uses, and purchased
for other purposes. Topozone and Maps a la Carte, Inc. have determined
that NMED's downloading, modification, and publication of their maps, as
was done in this
report, is a non-commercial use. NMED is required under
the Terms and Conditions
of Use, however, to give proper attribution to both Topozone and Maps
a la Carte, Inc. Topozone has provided NMED with the icon above and
asks that it be used in such attributions to create a link to their web
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Free Downloadable Modeling Software
Water resources applications software is provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. Examples of downloadable software include:
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The U.S. EPA Center for Exposure Modeling provides a variety of downloadable models including for example:
U.S. EPA also has a Support Center for Regulatory Air Models (SCRAM).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station provides a variety of downloadable models on landfills and water quality, including for example:
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Endocrine (Hormone) Disrupting Chemicals
The occurrence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in the environment, and their potential effects on human and animal health, is a very important emerging issue with huge ecological implications. Endocrine glands secrete hormones that control important aspects of bodily growth and function. A number of environmental chemicals can disrupt various functions of the endocrine system. EDCs can bind with the hormone receptor and either mimic a hormone, triggering an identical response, or block a hormone from triggering the response. EDCs also can interfere with hormonal activity without bonding to the receptor. EDCs can harm reproductive health, and are suspected of causing hormonally-sensitive carcinoma (i.e.. breast, cervical, prostate and testicular cancer). Prenatal exposure to environmental xenoestrogens has been suggested as one possible cause of low sperm count in young men.
Known and suspected EDCs include natural and synthetic estrogens, phytoestrogens that occur naturally in some vegetables, and manufactured chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, plasticizers, detergents, tributyltin (TBT) and organochlorine insecticides such as DDT and Lindane. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Canada and the World Health Organization have informative EDC web pages.
Drug Residues in Ambient Water
Pharmaceutical residues, originating in treated sewage effluent, are being detected in ambient water in Europe and in the Americas. Some of these drug residues have caused ecological impacts including the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and widespread sexual disruption of wild fish exposed to estrogenic EDCs. Click here for a detailed report on New Mexico's surveillance program for drug residues in ambient water, that includes links to other drug-residue web sites.
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Other Agencies with New Mexico Information
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Environmental Groups Active in New Mexico
The following links are provided in the spirit of protecting the environment, advancing environmental science, and improving communication among those interested in New Mexico's environment. Linkage to these web sites does not necessarily mean that NMED concurs with the policies and views of these organizations. The self-described mission statements of each organization, if available from their web sites, are provided in quotes.
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Regulated-Community Organizations
The following links are provided in the spirit of protecting the environment, advancing environmental science, and improving communication among those interested in New Mexico's environment. Linkage to these web sites does not necessarily mean that NMED concurs with the policies and views of these organizations. The self-described mission statements of each organization, if available from their web sites, are provided in quotes.
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NMED Photo Archives Click on the links to view the pictures. These images may be reproduced without further permission provided that proper credit is given to the New Mexico Environment Department.
In 1999, NMED was notified by a citizen that drums of waste oil had been buried rather than taken to a recycling facility. NMED scientist Bart Faris used a metal detector and got signals of buried metal at the location identified by the citizen. The site was excavated, and a total of two 55-gallon drums and fifteen 5-gallon buckets were discovered and removed. Most containers had leaked their entire contents into the subsurface environment. Waste oil was floating atop ground water which was encountered at a depth of about five feet. The drums and buckets and 21.15 tons of contaminated soil were placed on a double layer of plastic sheeting. After tests confirmed that the waste oil did not have any PCBs or chlorinated solvents, the soil was taken to a landfill licensed to accept petroleum-contaminated material. The total cost of the cleanup exceeded $ 12,000. The local District Attorney has filed a criminal complaint, for alleged felony violations of the N.M. Water Quality Act, against two individuals and this matter is pending.
Hazardous waste generated by a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory was dumped into a wooden cesspool. The site was located in a rural residential area served by shallow private domestic wells where public water service was not available. NMED tasked its emergency contractor to pump out the cesspool contents which were transported to an out-of-state hazardous waste incinerator. Subsequent monitoring detected traces of an organic solvent used to manufacture the illegal drug in ground water immediately next to the cesspool, but not in any domestic wells in the area.
Drums of hazardous waste containing heavy metals and solvents were dumped at this landfill. Although there was no visible evidence on the surface, hazardous waste dumped at another landfill polluted the ground water so badly that protective clothing and a respirator had to be worn while sampling a monitoring well.
A landfill had been receiving various liquid wastes including septage, oil-field "produced water", chlorinated solvents, and waste acid. In 1985, the waste pond began to erupt noxious gasses including hydrogen sulfide and a vapor that caused chemical burns on the faces and hands of persons exposed to it. The chemical reaction went on for several days, and the National Guard was mobilized to provide site security. NMED scientists wearing protective encapsulation suits collected samples of the waste to chemically characterize it. Based on these test results, the chemical reaction was eventually halted by the addition of ferric chloride to the waste lagoon. Since then, the dumping of liquid waste into N.M. landfills has been prohibited.
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Waste oil leaks from an aboveground storage tank. The owner of this abandoned site is bankrupt, and there is no state fund to clean up such "orphan" pollution cases. An underground storage tank imploded and leaked 35,000 gallons of diesel that contaminated a nearby city water well. Liquid diesel entered the municipal water distribution system causing severe problems.
Raw
sewage and sludge is discharged to the Rio Grande during a bypass of
a municipal sewage treatment plant. A concrete
septic tank floats on the ground-water table during installation.
The tank had to be filled with water to make it sink into the aquifer.
This residential area relies on private domestic wells for water supply,
and septic tanks for sewage disposal. Area residents literally flush
their toilets into the aquifer that they and their neighbors drink
from.
Eutrophication is a condition in surface water caused by excessive nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that can lead to algae blooms and fish kills. The primary source of nutrients is sewage effluent. This stream was so choked with filamentous algae, that the the grate for the irrigation diversion had to be cleaned at least three times a day or the flow was completely blocked. Largely based on this photograph, the N.M. Water Quality Control Commission adopted a site-specific phosphorous standard in 2000. After a storm hit both watersheds about equally, the east fork of the Gila River contained excessive sediment while the west fork was relatively clear. The sediment was caused by a recent forest fire and non-point sources such as old logging roads.
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Churchrock Uranium Tailings Spill
The single largest release of liquid radioactive waste in the United States occurred at the Churchrock, N.M. uranium mill in 1979. A tailings-pond failure released 94 million gallons of acidic, saline, and radioactive waste to the Puerco River which flowed through Gallup, N.M. and into Arizona. This flood event scoured the river channel and, afterwards, waste liquid contained in bank storage evaporated leaving yellowish salts on the floodplain.
After the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission ground-water discharge permit regulations became effective in 1977, facilities like this were required to line their ponds and monitor ground-water quality. Waste water also can be stored in fiberglass tanks and periodically pumped out for proper disposal. The Oil Conservation Division banned unlined waste pits in the Permian Basin in the 1960's and in the San Juan Basin in the 1980's. This is a modern oil-and-gas site with lined pits. Sheets of a plastic (PVC) membrane are laid out and chemically welded together to create an impermeable liner for a new landfill cell.
The Santa Fe Well is contaminated with gasoline hydrocarbons. Water from the well is pumped through an air stripper, and then through two carbon filters in series, to remove the contaminants prior to entering the municipal distribution system. In the air stripping tower, water flows from the top down to the bottom while air is blown up through the tower to evaporate gasoline from the water. Any contaminants that make it through the air stripper are removed by adsorption in the carbon filters. The treatment units are contained in a building that was constructed to visually blend in with the neighborhood. This treatment system allowed the Santa Fe Well to be returned to production, and is cleaning up the aquifer. Some of the treated water is amended with hydrogen peroxide and nutrients, and is re-injected into the aquifer to stimulate the native ground-water bacteria to do a better job of biodegrading the gasoline. Air stripping also is used to clean up ground water contaminated with chlorinated solvents.
Sparge-and-vent is another technology used to clean up gasoline in ground water. Air is blown into the aquifer, where it sparges gasoline into the vapor phase. A soil-vapor extraction system is used to remove gasoline vapor.
The Terrero sulfide ore body near Pecos, N.M. was mined from 1926 through 1939. The ore was taken to the nearby El Molino mill where lead and zinc were extracted. Monitoring that began in 1985 discovered that the mill-tailings waste pile and waste rock piles at the mine were eroding and generating acid leachate containing heavy metals. The tailings pile was virtually devoid of vegetation. Mine waste periodically washed into the Pecos River causing fish kills. An Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) between NMED and the responsible persons was signed in 1995. The AOC required corrective actions to control erosion of the waste material and the migration of acid drainage at both sites. The mill tailings were stabilized, covered with a plastic liner and clean fill, and re-seeded. At the mine site, waste rock was removed from Willow Creek, a tributary of the Pecos River, stabilized, covered with clean fill, and re-seeded. An interception trench was installed to prevent ground water from seeping into the stabilized waste-rock piles. The Willow Creek channel and floodplain were reconstructed with clean fill.
Ground water seeping into the open pit of this gold mine will be treated with reverse osmosis to reduce the cobalt and sulfate concentrations.
What is this picture?
This web site was prepared by the New Mexico Environment Department funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pursuant to Section 106 of the Clean Water Act.
Please send comments, questions, suggestions, and bug reports for this page to Dennis McQuillan.
interested
people, including you, have visited the Technical Resources section.
This page was last revised on April 13, 2001.
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