Eastern Agency, Navajo Nation – Today, Earthworks launched a campaign to Protect Navajo Air. Billboards along U.S. Routes 550 and 64 outside of Bloomfield will encourage drivers to visit ProtectNavajoAir.com. Residents who live near oil and gas in northwestern New Mexico search an interactive mapping tool with the address of their home or schools attended by their family.
The map provides information on the location of oil and gas facilities, reported air and water pollution invents, and documented violations of rules and regulations that protect people’s health and our environment. The campaign also includes a narrative full of information about harms of oil and gas pollution to Navajo air, water, and culture – and what Earthworks is doing to help.
Concerned residents will also have the option to request an investigation of potential pollution harms by an expert Thermographer certified in using a special camera that is designed to make visible oil and gas air pollution, which is invisible to the naked eye.
A webinar for residents and journalists interested in exploring the mapping tool and related information on October 1st. Participants are asked to register here.
The campaign is led by Kendra Pinto, Earthworks Four Corners Indigenous Community Field Advocate and Certified Thermographer. Kendra travels throughout the region with an industry-standard FLIR optical gas imaging camera that makes visible pollution that otherwise is invisible to the naked eye.
“Our work is about making information accessible to the communities most impacted by oil and gas development.” said Pinto. “I hope it encourages people to ask questions, stay informed, and know that their experiences and their voices matter.”
The mapping tool and storymap project were done in conjunction with FracTracker Alliance and with the help of Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment.
For more information:
- MAP – ProtectNavajoAir.com
- Narrative Report – earthworks.org/beneath-the-surface
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Diné C.A.R.E. is an all-Navajo, intergenerational environmental justice non-profit organization comprised of grassroots community members active on Navajo Nation lands, including the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Diné C.A.R.E.’s mission is to advocate for traditional Diné teachings by protecting and providing a voice for all life within and beyond the Four Sacred Mountains. Diné C.A.R.E. promotes regenerative and sustainable uses of natural resources consistent with the Diné philosophy way of life. Since the late 1980s, Diné C.A.R.E. has worked with Navajo communities affected by energy extraction projects to demand environmental protection and sustainable development practices, bringing systemic changes in tribal politics and making the grassroots voices evident in the realm of energy development.
FracTracker Alliance maps, analyzes, and communicates the risks of oil, gas, and petrochemical development to advance just energy alternatives that protect public health, natural resources, and the climate. Learn more at fractracker.org.
Earthworks is a nonprofit advocacy organization that works with communities to defend against the harms of extraction. Earthworks staff is certified to use optical gas imaging cameras and analyze for harmful air pollution from oil and gas operations normally invisible to the human eye. Kendra Pinto has spent hours in the field documenting pollution harm in the Four Corners region since 2021. She has brought these findings before Navajo Leaders, the state of New Mexico, and the Federal Government. Kendra is Dinê.
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