Evaluating the impacts of the Corralitos Landfill on the quality of life of residents in Las Cruces and Doña Ana, NM

Adriana Zuniga-Teran, assistant research scientist in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning and the Udall Center, has been awarded funds to conduct an impact assessment on the Corralitos Landfill in Doña Ana County, NM, approximately 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The rest of the project team includes the Udall Center’s Molli Bryson, Sandra Bernal-Cordova (Humanities and School of Architecture), Tony Colella (School of Geography, Development & Environment), Neha Gupta (CCASS – Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions), Nicole Iroz-Elardo (Landscape Architecture & Planning), and Simone Williams (Arid Lands Resource Sciences).

The North American Development Bank (NADB) is a binational financial institution established by the Governments of the U.S. and Mexico to provide financing to support the development and implementation of infrastructure projects, as well as to provide technical and other assistance for projects and actions that preserve, protect, or enhance the environment to advance the well-being of the people of the United States and Mexico. NADB carries out an impact assessment on select projects to evaluate their long-term environmental and human health impacts, as well as to identify opportunities for improving the project development process.

This project will assess the impact on the health and quality of life related to the Solid Waste Landfill Expansion, Transfer Station Improvements and Equipment Replacement project for the Corralitos Landfill in Doña Ana County, N.M, which was implemented by the South-Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) in 2003, with the certification and financing by the NADB. The project will collect health impact information from a wide range of stakeholders in the area in conjunction with gathering institutional and environmental impact data to create a final assessment report with recommendations for improvements by May 2022.