A few weeks ago, Celerah Hewes went to the grocery store on a Sunday where she lives in southeast Albuquerque. She doesn’t normally shop on a Sunday but needed a few things for dinner.
Driving home, Celerah, a Moms Clean Air Force national field manager, saw the sky was full of black smoke (photo above). She pulled over to Google what was going on, but no information was available.
Eventually, she learned the smoke was from a two-alarm fire at a plastic storage facility about five miles from her home—a warehouse full of PVC pipes and other items waiting to be recycled. “I couldn’t find information about a health alert. I was shocked at the severity of the fire and that the health implications of burning plastic were not getting much attention,” she said.
What’s in burning plastic?
Celerah was concerned about breathing hazardous air, especially about fire and rescue people’s outsize exposure. “Plastics are toxic when they burn. It could have short-term health effects like respiratory issues, which can be especially dangerous for people with preexisting health issues, like asthma. We should have the opportunity to protect ourselves.”
Plastics contain hundreds of toxic chemicals, including heavy metals, phthalates, flame retardants, bisphenol A, and PFAS. Burning plastics releases chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, and other serious health harms.
Emergency text alerts
Buried on the City of Albuquerque website, Celerah found a way to sign up for emergency text alerts from the city’s environmental health department. “The general messaging was, ‘Plastic is burning. Stay indoors.’ That’s it!”
She noticed people going about their business at school and on the streets the next morning. It was clear they weren’t aware a health alert was in effect. “People that live within a few mile radius should have gotten a text alert. I don’t know if the school districts were even alerted. With children at high risk from air pollution, they should be. There’s an opportunity here to educate around what plastic burning means and air quality issues,” she said.
What should people do?
When the fire finally hit the local news, some precautions were recommended, including turning off air conditioners or switching them to recirculate air. But Celerah, like many people in New Mexico, has a swamp cooler, which can’t recirculate air like an A/C, and it was 98 degrees. She felt the city could have done a much better job providing guidance and suggesting precautions to safeguard health.
Lessons learned
If a post-fire investigation occurs, locals may learn why the recycling plant went up in flames and what kind of air quality testing was conducted. Celerah has demanded Albuquerque address concerns about air quality, backed by scientific data. She has also called on the city to revise their emergency alert system so more people know how to stay informed during future emergency situations.
It’s not just Albuquerque
In the face of increased air quality emergencies, including wildfires and ozone, communication about air pollution risk needs improvement all across the country. Alert systems vary widely, depending on where you live.
Even when there are warning systems in place, there’s no guarantee they will be used. None of the 80 warning sirens placed around Maui to alert people of danger were activated in response to the recent Lahaina fire.
Going forward, Celerah anticipates more climate emergencies and petrochemical pollution incidents nationwide, even for those of us without plastics facilities in our neighborhoods. Now’s the time to find out what alerts are available where you live, sign up for them, and demand improvements to weak systems. “We need to be informing people about what is in the air we breathe.”
TELL PRESIDENT BIDEN AND EPA: PROTECT PEOPLE FROM THE DISASTROUS PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY