Earth Matters w/ Laura Paskus

This week on Earth Matters Gila Resources Information Project executive director Allyson Siwik talks with independent reporter and radio producer Laura Paskus about toxic and persistent chemicals called PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – that have contaminated water supplies around the country, including here in New Mexico. The discussion covers contaminated groundwater at military sites in the state, as well as the recent study by the US Geological Survey and the NM Environment Department that analyzed water samples for PFAS from surface and groundwater across the state. The Gila River has popped up as a water body with elevated levels of these contaminants.

Laura Paskus is an independent reporter and radio producer. She has been writing about New Mexico’s natural resources and communities since 2002, as an assistant editor of High Country News, a radio producer at KUNM-FM, managing editor of Tribal College Journal and a freelancer for a variety of publications including the Santa Fe Reporter, New Mexico In Depth and Indian Country Today. Her work has also appeared in Al Jazeera America, Ms. Magazine, National Geographic Online, Orion and other national publications. She’s a correspondent for New Mexico In Focus. Laura is also the author of the new book At the Precipice New Mexico’s Changing Climate. 

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For more information:

New Mexico PBS – Groundwater War: New Mexico’s Toxic Threat

Environmental Working Group – PFAS Chemicals