Asbestos in New Mexico
New Mexico Asbestos
New Mexico has many deposits of naturally occurring asbestos. There are also oil refineries and two major power plants. Although New Mexico lacks the numerous industries that typically use asbestos, mesothelioma and other asbestos-induced illnesses still are present and remain an issue.
Jobs with Asbestos Exposure
Power plants and oil refineries in New Mexico, particularly the Four Corners Power Plant and the San Juan Powerhouse, are believed to have asbestos. According to a Puerto Rico study conducted on power plant workers in general, approximately 3 percent of those workers die from mesothelioma while over 10 percent showed abnormal chest x-ray images.
New Mexico’s power and electrical provider, the Public Service Company of New Mexico, was named as a defendant in over 15 lawsuits in just 2003, and was previously sued for secondhand asbestos exposure cases that involved family members of workers who also developed some type of asbestos-induced diseases.
The state of New Mexico alone has over five natural asbestos depositories. Two of these locations are in the southwest corner of the state, one located even further in south, another just half an hour or less from Las Cruces, and the last located about 25 miles outside the city of Ruidoso. Though some of these deposits are out in sparsely populated regions, the risk remains for those who do live there and particularly those who live there and travel into the cities.
Because asbestos fibers are resistant to heat and fire, it is used often to insulate pipes in oil refineries and power plants. Thousands of workers in the state of New Mexico have been and still may be at risk for asbestos exposure every day they are at work. Asbestos exposure occurs when the fibers are disturbed, then released into the air and inhaled by workers. The fibers that are inhaled travel through the respiratory system and eventually attaching itself onto the lungs’ linings. These fibers can sit dormant for decades before any symptoms are revealed.
