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Feeling Blue in the South Valley

A Case Study of Nitrate Contamination in Albuquerque’s South Valley

University of New Mexico, bmohr{at}cabq.gov

This article examines, by way of a case study, a community where groundwater has been highly contaminated with nitrate and how that situation brings together matters of public policy, environmental justice, and emerging technology. The Mountain View community lies in an unincorporated area of Bernalillo County, New Mexico; the neighborhood is 77% Hispanic and is a pocket of poverty whose residents are considered at risk for environmental injustice. Groundwater nitrate contamination was discovered in the 1960s, but residents were merely encouraged to dig deeper wells, until 1984 when most residents were put on nearby municipal water after a child was poisoned and hospitalized with methemoglobinemia, known as blue baby syndrome. In situ biodenitrification is an emerging technology that has been shown to completely remediate groundwater nitrate contamination after the injection of a food source for naturally occurring denitrifying bacteria; this technology is being considered for use in Mountain View.

Key Words: in situ biodenitrification • groundwater nitrate contamination • environmental justice • methemoglobinemia • blue baby syndrome • bioremediation • Bernalillo County • New Mexico

Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Vol. 29, No. 5, 408-420 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0270467609342713


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