Residents Say Nearby Soil Contaminated, Possibly Causing Injury

At a meeting Monday night between Berino residents and housing developer representatives, a surprise guest became the focus.

Luisa Alvarado’s 2-year-old daughter showed the packed audience boils on the palms of her hands and feet that her mother said is from playing in contaminated dirt in Berino.

A new housing development built to help provide low income families with an affordable place to live is actually threatening the health of the people who already live there, according to residents.

Residents said the construction by that affordable housing developer, Tierra del Sol, is exposing them to soil, contained by years of illegal dumping.

A community meeting was held Monday night by Dona Ana Commissioner Billy Garett that brought both sides together.

Alvarado said the sores have been causing so much pain that her daughter has been unable to walk and sleep. Her doctor said it could be from the contaminated dinner.

Tierra del Sol consultant Charlie McNabb said that the developer is glad community members such as Luisa are showing this kind of concern so they can make changes in the future.

“Tierra del Sol was unaware of the issues. we went through all of the proper environmental assessments prior to this issue being raised. prior to construction and there was not evidence of an issue so we did not go on to a second level environmental assessment. now that it’s come up we will do further assessments,” McNabb said.

The results of a New Mexico Environmental Department test commissioned by Tierra del Sol indicated there was asbestos found in tiles scattered throughout the area but not at very hazardous levels.

But they are still waiting to get the test results back from an actual soil sample and there was discussion Monday night of doing some other independent tests in the future.