Clean Air for All Now! (CAFA-Now), founded in 1993 and based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, is fighting to protect the health of 75,000 people living near Intel’s massive chip production plant. While CAFA-Now recognizes Intel’s vital role in technology and the economy, it is increasingly alarmed by toxic emissions from the plant’s ongoing expansion – pollution released into nearby homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Residents have reported decades of odors, illnesses, and unexplained symptoms. CAFA-Now monitors air quality, shares chemical data with the public, and pressures Intel to adopt the most advanced pollution control systems. Vulnerable groups – children, the elderly, and people with chronic illness – are especially at risk. Regulatory silence has failed these communities. CAFA-Now is standing up to ensure that progress never comes at the cost of public health.
The Intel plant in Rio Rancho spews toxic fumes above a residential neighborhood in Corrales, NM.
Led by residents of Corrales, Rio Rancho, and northwest Albuquerque, CAFA-Now is a grassroots group born from lived experience with air pollution. Co-founder Marcy Brandenburg closed her café after daily illness, while Dennis O’Mara joined after fumes filled his home. Now 55 members strong, CAFA-Now monitors air quality, shares findings, and fights for a cancer rate study across 14 nearby census tracts. The group has urged Intel to use part of its $3.5 billion expansion to upgrade outdated abatement equipment and asked the New Mexico Environment Department for a stronger air permit with enforceable emission limits and independent oversight. Their work supports a community that is 44% Hispanic, ranks in the 96th percentile for cancer risk, and includes many elderly, low-income, and limited-English residents—all disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution.
This aerial photo shows the dense residential development surrounding the Intel NM plant.