Bernalillo County issues dust health alert near industrial sites

Dust near industrial sites prompted the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Program to issue a health alert Monday, a warning aimed at people driving, working or exercising across the metro. For residents with asthma or allergies, the immediate advice was to reduce outdoor exertion, keep windows closed and use car recirculation when passing through dusty stretches.

Dust is more than a visibility problem. Fine particles can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and they can make asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions worse. Even people who do not normally have breathing problems can feel symptoms after longer exposure, which puts outdoor workers, parents managing school pickups, coaches and camp organizers in the group that has to change plans first when the air turns rough.

The city’s Air Quality Program is authorized to implement and enforce clean air laws within city and county boundaries, and it posts guidance on Action Alert Days and Shutdown Notice and Health Alert Information pages. The program also provides a daily air quality report every Monday through Friday, and residents can text ABQHEALTH to 226787 to receive real-time emergency health alert notifications.

Bernalillo County has dealt with this problem before. A September 2022 city air-quality report found the county has frequently recurring PM10, or coarse particulate matter, exceedances because of high winds. The city’s April 2024 High Wind Fugitive Dust Mitigation Plan for Albuquerque-Bernalillo County includes the background, the health impacts of PM10, the contributors to high PM10 events, the air monitoring network, the role of weather forecasting, public education and notification, and steps to reduce controllable sources of dust.

In March 2021, the Air Quality Control Board issued a shutdown notice on March 30, 2021 because of blowing dust. City documents from 2018 also recorded PM10 exceedances at the South Valley monitor.