Clean Air for All Now (CAFA-Now) is on a mission to curb the toxic air emissions emitted from Intel New Mexico’s production plant by raising awareness about the problem and pressuring Intel to utilize the best available emissions abatement equipment to limit their pollution. CAFA-Now acknowledges the importance of computer chips produced by Intel’s plant in Rio Rancho, yet is increasingly concerned about emissions from the plant’s ongoing expansion that are released into adjacent neighborhoods. Founded in 1993 to fight for clean air for residents living near the facility, the organization rebranded in 2021 and maintains a continuous effort to identify and measure the airborne chemicals that Intel is emitting. CAFA-Now works to communicate the best available information to and from governmental agencies, politicians, and nonprofits. The organization shares relevant data, studies, articles, and testimonies with the public through news media, email, and various social media platforms.
The Intel plant in Rio Rancho spews toxic fumes above a residential neighborhood in Corrales, NM.
Clean Air for All Now is a small organization, but one that’s working to protect the air quality of the 75,000 people living near the Intel facility in Rio Rancho, where residents have reported troubling odors and related illnesses for more than three decades. Lamenting that the EPA and New Mexico Environment Department have done little to protect communities near the Intel plant from these dangerous chemical emissions, CAFA-Now’s campaign is aimed at generating public pressure to convince Intel to improve on its emissions abatement. Strategies include the Chemical of the Month feature to inform residents about the different chemicals that Intel emits. CAFA-Now is also working to better determine the concentrations emitted since many existing determinations of safe levels are based on or influenced by studies in occupational settings. Little data is available on the impact of concentrations that would be encountered in residential settings with long-term exposure.
CAFA-Now has asked Intel to allocate a small portion of its $3.5 billion plant expansion investment toward replacing aging and outdated abatement equipment in order to keep emissions to the lowest possible levels. The organization has also asked the New Mexico Environment Department to issue an updated air emissions permit that would require Intel to make these upgrades, as well as establish maximum allowable emission levels and independent monitoring of the plant’s emissions.
This aerial photo shows the dense residential development surrounding the Intel NM plant.