This image is the cover for the book Environmental Justice in New Mexico

Environmental Justice in New Mexico

In New Mexico and across America, communities of color bear the brunt of contamination from generations of expansion, mining, nuclear testing and illegal dumping. The nation's largest uranium waste spill occurred in 1979 at Church Rock, and radioactivity in the Rio Puerco remains at dangerous levels. The National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Mount Taylor as one of the ten most endangered historic sites in America. After decades of sickness from Rio Grande river water, the first female governor of a Pueblo Nation, Verna Olgin Teller, led tribal members to a Supreme Court victory over Albuquerque. Valerie Rangel presents stories of strife and struggle in the war to protect the integrity of natural systems, rights to religious freedom and the continuation of traditional customs.

Valerie Rangel, Bob Haozous

Valerie Rangel earned a master's degree in community regional planning with an emphasis in environmental and natural resource management, indigenous planning and public health. Her education involved environmental science, Southwest history, Native American studies and cultural anthropology. Having taught college science courses, she presently works as an environmental planning and public health assessment consultant and community program manager for the state's community nonprofit foundation and volunteers as a river steward and social justice activist.

The History Press