Dust alert in Sandoval County area keeps air unhealthy for sensitive groups

People with asthma, COPD and other breathing problems were the first to feel the warning from the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Program: limit time outdoors, skip exercise outside and keep windows shut while dust pushed air quality to “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” on June 5. That mattered beyond Albuquerque city limits, especially in Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Corrales, Cabezon, Vista Hills and the Rio Rancho Intel area, where blowing dust and traffic along major roads can quickly turn a hazy afternoon into a health problem for kids, outdoor workers and older adults.

The Air Quality Program, run by the City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, issues health alerts when ambient conditions may affect people with respiratory conditions. It says dust and smoke are the usual triggers, and its daily air quality report comes out Monday through Friday around 8 a.m. The program also tracks pollutant levels, weather, air movement and temperature, using five EPA-certified ambient monitoring stations across Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. The EPA says airborne particles are among the pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human health.

For Sandoval County residents, the warning fits a pattern that has been building through the spring. On Feb. 17, a blowing-dust health alert covered Albuquerque and Bernalillo County from 9:45 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the city told dust-generating contractors and businesses to shut down from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Feb. 20, another blowing-dust alert urged people with respiratory conditions to stay inside more and pushed schools and senior facilities toward indoor activities, closed windows and doors, and recirculation mode on air systems when needed.

A stronger regional dust event followed on May 25, when the National Weather Service issued a dust advisory for Bernalillo County and southeastern Sandoval County. Visibility dropped to less than two miles, winds topped 40 mph, and a wall of dust moved north at 20 mph. The advisory included Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Corrales, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Paradise Hills, Cabezon, the Rio Rancho Intel area and Vista Hills, along with Interstate 40, Highway 550 and Interstate 25. For families with children in outdoor sports, workers on construction sites and anyone whose lungs are already strained, the message was the same: stay ahead of the dust, because one alert can quickly become the next.