The New Mexico Environmental Law Center works to protect the land, air, and water around New Mexico and to defend under-resourced communities that are fighting for environmental justice. Founded in 1987 with a mission to ensure a clean environment for all New Mexicans, the Law Center defends citizens against polluters while also working to strengthen environmental regulations throughout the Land of Enchantment. The NMELC has been on the legal frontlines against toxic contaminants from the mining and fracking industries, air pollution from the petrochemical industry, environmental racism that unjustly threatens indigenous communities and people of color, for cleanups in communities that have already been contaminated, and fending off the growing threat that climate change presents to clean water access. As a legal resource center against Big Polluters and the public officials that do their bidding, the NMELC defends all of New Mexico in the struggle for environmental justice.
South Valley Stationary Air Pollution Source Density
As a statewide organization, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center serves a wide range of communities fighting to protect their environment. Efforts include representing stakeholders in legal proceedings and at public hearings; working on legislation to defend air, land, and water against polluters; and engaging with supporters on changes to existing regulations for stronger environmental defense. The Law Center has spearheaded landmark industry changes in uranium mining clean-ups, exposure to medical waste, landfill locations, oil and gas ordinances, aquifer and river water protections, cleanup of Cold War-era radioactive waste at Los Alamos National Lab, greenhouse gas emissions, and highway expansions. The NMELC remains a proactive leader in regulatory battles over how regional and state entities will deal with such ongoing environmental health threats. Cases are publicized, tracked, and then ultimately marked as closed after victories are won.