Oil and gas have boomed in New Mexico. Its schools are contending with pollution's effects
'It happens a lot,' Amari explained from the backseat. The symptoms usually show up when the sixth grader smells an odor of 'rotten egg with propane' that rises from nearby gas wells and wafts over Lybrook Elementary School, where he and some 70 other Navajo students attend class. His little brother often misses school for the same reason.
'They just keep getting sick,' Amari's father, Billton, said. 'Especially the younger one, he's been throwing up and won't eat.' The symptoms are putting the kids at risk of falling further behind in school.
Lybrook sits in the heart of New Mexico's San Juan Basin, a major oil and gas deposit that, along with the Permian Basin in the state's southeast, is supplying natural gas that meets much of the nation's electricity demand.
The New Mexican gas has reaped huge benefits. Natural gas has become a go-to fuel for power plants, sometimes replacing dirtier coal-fired plants and improving air quality. Oil and gas companies employ thousands of workers, often in areas with few other opportunities, and their revenue boosts the state's budget.
But those benefits may come at a cost for thousands of students in New Mexico whose schools sit near pipelines, wellheads and flare stacks. An Associated Press analysis found 694 oil and gas wells with new or active permits within a mile of a school in the state. This means around 29,500 students in 74 schools and preschools potentially face exposure to noxious emissions that can be released during extraction.
At Lybrook, Amari's school, fewer than 6% of students are proficient at math, and only a fifth meet state standards for science and reading proficiency.
Other factors could help explain poor achievement. AP's analysis found two-thirds of the schools within a mile of an oil or gas well are low-income.
But research has found student learning is directly harmed by air pollution from fossil fuels — even when socioeconomic factors are taken into account.
The risks go far beyond New Mexico. An AP analysis of data from the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker found over 1,000 public schools across 13 states within five miles of a major oil or gas field.
'This kind of air pollution has a real, measurable effect on students,' said Mike Gilraine, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Gilraine's research has shown student test scores are closely associated with air contamination.
America's shift to natural gas has resulted in substantial increases in student achievement nationwide, Gilraine's research shows, as it has displaced dirtier coal and led to cleaner air on the whole. But there has been little data on air quality across New Mexico, even as it has become one of the most productive states in the nation for natural gas. State regulators have installed only 20 permanent air monitors, most in areas without oil or gas production.
Independent researchers have extensively studied the air quality near schools in at least two locations in the state, however. One is Lybrook, which sits within a mile of 17 active oil and gas wells.
In 2024, a study at the school found levels of pollutants — including benzene, a cancer-causing byproduct of natural gas production that is particularly harmful to children — were spiking during school hours, to nearly double the levels known to cause chronic or acute health effects.
That research followed a 2021 health impact assessment that found more than 90% of area residents surveyed suffered from sinus problems. Nosebleeds, shortness of breath and nausea were widespread. The report attributed the symptoms to the high levels of pollutants — including, near Lybrook, hydrogen sulfide, a compound that gives off the sulfur smell that Amari associates with his headaches.
Those studies helped confirm what many community members already knew, said Daniel Tso, a community leader who helped oversee the 2021 health impact assessment.
'The children and the grandchildren need a safe homeland,' Tso said in March, standing outside a cluster of gas wells within a mile of Lybrook Elementary.
'You smell that?' he said, nodding towards a nearby wellhead, which smelled like propane. 'I've had people visiting this area from New York. They spend five minutes here and say, 'Hey, I got a headache.' And the kids are what, six hours a day at the school breathing this?'
Lybrook school officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Researchers have identified similar air quality problems in New Mexico's southeast. In 2023, a yearlong study of the air in Loving found air quality was worse than in downtown Los Angeles, containing the fifth-highest level of measured ozone contamination in the U.S.
The source of the ozone — a pollutant that's especially hazardous to children — was the area's network of gas wells. Some of that infrastructure sits within a half-mile of Loving's schools.
For most locals, any concerns about pollution are outweighed by the industry's economic benefits. Representatives of the oil and gas industry have claimed the air quality studies themselves are not trustworthy. Andrea Felix, vice president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), said other sources of emissions, such as cars and trucks, are likely a larger source of air quality problems near wells.
Officials with Loving schools are also skeptical. Superintendent Lee White said funds from the oil and gas industry paid for a new wing at the elementary school, a science lab for students, turf on the sports field and training for teachers. In the most recent fiscal year, oil and gas revenue supported $1.7 billion in K-12 spending in New Mexico, according to a NMOGA report.
'Are we willing to give that up because people say our air is not clean?' White asked. 'It's just as clean as anywhere else.'
Efforts to limit drilling near schools were boosted in 2023, when State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard issued an executive order prohibiting new oil and gas leases on state-owned land within a mile of schools.
____
AP journalist Sharon Lurye contributed.
____
The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New malaria drug for babies offers hope to health workers in Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Alice Nekesa did not know she was infected with malaria-causing parasites until it was too late. She was in the fourth month of pregnancy last year when she started bleeding, a miscarriage later attributed to untreated malaria in her. The Ugandan farmer said recently that she regretted the loss of what would have been her second child 'because I didn't discover malaria and treat it early.' Variations of such cases are commonly reported by Ugandan health workers who witness stillbirths or feverish babies that die within days from undiagnosed malaria. The deaths are part of a wider death toll tied to the mosquito-borne disease, the deadliest across Africa, but one easily treated in adults who seek timely medical care. Until recently, a major gap in malaria treatment was how to care for newborns and infants infected with malaria who weren't strong enough to receive regular medication. That changed last month when Swiss medical regulators approved medicine from the Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for babies weighing between 2 and 5 kilograms (nearly 4½ to 11 pounds). Swissmedic said the treatment, a sweet-tasting tablet that disperses into a syrup when dropped into water, was approved in coordination with the World Health Organization under a fast-track authorization process to help developing countries access much-needed treatment. Africa's 1.5 billion people accounted for 95% of an estimated 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, according to the WHO. More than three-quarters of those deaths were among children. In Uganda, an east African country of 45 million people, there were 12.6 million malaria cases and nearly 16,000 deaths in 2023. Many were children younger than 5 and pregnant women, according to WHO. Nigeria, Congo and Uganda — in that order — are the African countries most burdened by malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes that thrive and breed in stagnant water. The drug approved by Swiss authorities, known as Coartem Baby in some countries and Riamet Baby in others, is a combination of two antimalarials. It is a lower dose version of a tablet previously approved for other age groups, including for older children. Before Coartem Baby, antimalarial drugs designed for older children were administered to small infants with careful adjustments to avoid overdose or toxicity. Ugandan authorities, who have been working to update clinical guidelines for treating malaria, say the new drug will be rolled out as soon as possible. It is not yet available in public hospitals. The development of Coartem Baby has given hope to many, with local health workers and others saying the medicine will save the lives of many infants. Ronald Serufusa, the top malaria official for the district of Wakiso, which shares a border with the Ugandan capital of Kampala, said he believes Coartem Baby will be available 'very, very soon' and that one priority is sensitizing the people adhering to treatment. Some private pharmacies already have access to Coartem Baby, 'flavored with orange or mango' to make it palatable for infants, he said. During the so-called malaria season, which coincides with rainy periods twice a year, long lines of sick patients grow outside government-run health centers across Uganda. Many are often women with babies strapped to their backs. Health workers now are trained to understand that 'malaria can be implicated among newborns,' even when other dangerous conditions like sepsis are present, Serufusa said. 'If they don't expand their investigations to also suspect malaria, then it goes unnoticed,' he said, speaking of health workers treating babies. The Malaria Consortium, a global nonprofit based in London, in a statement described the approval of Coartem Baby as 'a major leap forward for saving the lives of young children in countries affected by malaria.' In addition to Uganda, the drug will be rolled out in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania, the group said. Jane Nabakooza, a pediatrician with Uganda's malaria control program, said she expects the government will make Coartem Baby available to patients free of charge, even after losing funding when the U.S. shrank its foreign aid program earlier this year. Some malaria funding from outside sources, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, remains available for programs such as indoor spraying to kill mosquitoes that spread the malaria-causing parasite. Because of funding shortages, 'we are focusing on those that are actually prone to severe forms of malaria and malaria deaths, and these are children under 5 years,' she said.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
New malaria drug for babies offers hope to health workers in Uganda
Uganda New Malaria Drug KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Alice Nekesa did not know she was infected with malaria-causing parasites until it was too late. She was in the fourth month of pregnancy last year when she started bleeding, a miscarriage later attributed to untreated malaria in her. The Ugandan farmer said recently that she regretted the loss of what would have been her second child 'because I didn't discover malaria and treat it early.' Variations of such cases are commonly reported by Ugandan health workers who witness stillbirths or feverish babies that die within days from undiagnosed malaria. The deaths are part of a wider death toll tied to the mosquito-borne disease, the deadliest across Africa, but one easily treated in adults who seek timely medical care. Until recently, a major gap in malaria treatment was how to care for newborns and infants infected with malaria who weren't strong enough to receive regular medication. That changed last month when Swiss medical regulators approved medicine from the Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for babies weighing between 2 and 5 kilograms (nearly 4½ to 11 pounds). Swissmedic said the treatment, a sweet-tasting tablet that disperses into a syrup when dropped into water, was approved in coordination with the World Health Organization under a fast-track authorization process to help developing countries access much-needed treatment. Africa's 1.5 billion people accounted for 95% of an estimated 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, according to the WHO. More than three-quarters of those deaths were among children. In Uganda, an east African country of 45 million people, there were 12.6 million malaria cases and nearly 16,000 deaths in 2023. Many were children younger than 5 and pregnant women, according to WHO. Nigeria, Congo and Uganda — in that order — are the African countries most burdened by malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes that thrive and breed in stagnant water. The drug approved by Swiss authorities, known as Coartem Baby in some countries and Riamet Baby in others, is a combination of two antimalarials. It is a lower dose version of a tablet previously approved for other age groups, including for older children. Before Coartem Baby, antimalarial drugs designed for older children were administered to small infants with careful adjustments to avoid overdose or toxicity. Ugandan authorities, who have been working to update clinical guidelines for treating malaria, say the new drug will be rolled out as soon as possible. It is not yet available in public hospitals. The development of Coartem Baby has given hope to many, with local health workers and others saying the medicine will save the lives of many infants. Ronald Serufusa, the top malaria official for the district of Wakiso, which shares a border with the Ugandan capital of Kampala, said he believes Coartem Baby will be available 'very, very soon' and that one priority is sensitizing the people adhering to treatment. Some private pharmacies already have access to Coartem Baby, 'flavored with orange or mango' to make it palatable for infants, he said. During the so-called malaria season, which coincides with rainy periods twice a year, long lines of sick patients grow outside government-run health centers across Uganda. Many are often women with babies strapped to their backs. Health workers now are trained to understand that 'malaria can be implicated among newborns,' even when other dangerous conditions like sepsis are present, Serufusa said. 'If they don't expand their investigations to also suspect malaria, then it goes unnoticed,' he said, speaking of health workers treating babies. The Malaria Consortium, a global nonprofit based in London, in a statement described the approval of Coartem Baby as 'a major leap forward for saving the lives of young children in countries affected by malaria.' In addition to Uganda, the drug will be rolled out in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania, the group said. Jane Nabakooza, a pediatrician with Uganda's malaria control program, said she expects the government will make Coartem Baby available to patients free of charge, even after losing funding when the U.S. shrank its foreign aid program earlier this year. Some malaria funding from outside sources, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, remains available for programs such as indoor spraying to kill mosquitoes that spread the malaria-causing parasite. Because of funding shortages, 'we are focusing on those that are actually prone to severe forms of malaria and malaria deaths, and these are children under 5 years,' she said. ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
21 hours ago
- New York Post
Texas declares measles outbreak over, health officials say
The Texas measles outbreak that sickened 762 people since late January is over, state health officials said Monday. It's been more than 42 days since the last new case was confirmed, meeting the threshold public health officials use to declare measles outbreaks over. The last person to have an outbreak-related case got a rash on July 1, according to state data. Two unvaccinated Texas children died of the virus earlier this year, and 100 people were hospitalized throughout the outbreak, which spread to 37 counties. The outbreak was linked to outbreaks in Canada and Mexico, and other U.S. states. 4 The Texas measles outbreak that sickened 762 people since late January is over, state health officials said Monday. AP The U.S. is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades, as childhood vaccination rates against the virus decline and more parents claim exemptions from school requirements. The U.S. has confirmed 1,356 cases as of Aug. 5, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The nation's third measles death was an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico who died in March. West Texas was the nation's measles epicenter for months. The virus started spreading there in close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite communities in Gaines County. Even with that outbreak over, Texas will likely see more cases as the virus spreads worldwide, officials said. 4 The U.S. has confirmed 1,356 cases as of Aug. 5, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. AP At least 19 U.S. states have had measles outbreaks this year. Across the border in Chihuahua, Mexico, an outbreak that started with a child who visited Gaines County has ballooned to 3,854 cases and 13 deaths. Another in Ontario, Canada, started in October, sickening 2,362 so far and killing one. And 1,762 have been sickened in Alberta, Canada. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Before the outbreak, most Texas doctors had never seen a measles case because of how uncommon it has become, said Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner Jennifer Shuford. 4 The U.S. is having its worst year for measles in more than three decades, as childhood vaccination rates against the virus decline AFP via Getty Images 4 Even with that outbreak over, Texas will likely see more cases as the virus spreads worldwide, officials said. AP She credited testing, vaccination, monitoring, and education with helping to end the outbreak. 'I want to highlight the tireless work of the public health professionals across the state who contributed to the containment of one of the most contagious viruses,' Shuford said in a statement. Measles causes a rash and respiratory symptoms that can lead to severe complications or death. It is prevented by the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, which is required for most young kids before they start school.
