‘I’m pretty traumatized by it’: Wildlife advocates protest decontamination effort at Albuquerque retention basin
A decontamination effort at a west Albuquerque retention basin has sparked protests from wildlife advocates concerned about its impact on local animals.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
A decontamination effort at a retention basin in west Albuquerque has sparked protests from wildlife advocates, who are raising concerns about its impact on local wildlife.
Angela Shomin captured video on Tuesday showing the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) pumping the basin dry, burying local wildlife in the process.
“They are covering them with dirt and going to be running them over,” Shomin said, referring to the animals.
Shomin’s friend, Brit Walters, described her reaction to the scene.
“It actually made me sick to my stomach,” Walters said. “I’m pretty traumatized by it. I don’t know how anybody in the[ir] right mind could bury something that’s living. We were told that they had a job to do and that they frankly didn’t care.”
The decontamination effort aims to clean the river and other water in the area, but protesters gathered at the basin Wednesday morning, citing environmental concerns and the impact on ecosystems.
“There is just too many people fighting over too little amount of water,” protester Alex Price said. “There’s no way everyone is going to get what they want, and it just sucks that the one thing that’s going to suffer is the animals.”
Mark DiMenna, deputy director of Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department, emphasized the importance of preserving shared open spaces.
“The city’s open space is something that we all share that we all like to have the way it is,” DiMenna said.
The department intervened on Wednesday after AMAFCA temporarily halted the pumping process. Officials said they support decontaminating the space but want to ensure animal habits are considered.
“Wildlife is going to come to wherever it needs to come to get to water. Their habitat is shrinking on a daily basis,” DiMenna said. “So just recognizing that there’s wildlife that share this space and that they need to be dealt with accordingly is a step that we definitely want to see taken.”
AMAFCA returned to the basin Wednesday to help move wildlife to safety, working alongside the Environmental Health Department.
The city said no animals were killed during the process.
Anyone with environmental or wildlife welfare concerns can contact Albuquerque’s Environmental Health Department at 311.