New Mexico
Biden moves to block mining in New Mexico
“The Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service will now initiate a process to propose that the Secretary of the Interior implement a 20-year withdrawal to help secure the region’s water and air quality, cultural resources, critical fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational values,” the Department of the Interior stated in a press release.
For several years, members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have pushed for legislation to permanently withdraw the Pecos watershed from mineral development.
Earlier this month, US senator Martin Heinrich and other Democrats from New Mexico urged the Forest Service to complete the initial steps of the mineral withdrawal process.
They warned that the area remains vulnerable to mining and pollution, referencing a 1991 incident when toxic waste from a closed mine spilled into the Pecos River. The spill killed fish along an 11-mile stretch and required an extensive and costly cleanup.
Since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, the Biden administration has acted to limit oil drilling and block mining. Meanwhile, the president-elect has pledged to expedite permits.
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently finalized restrictions on an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge in the country. The decision limits lease sales to 400,000 acres, one-quarter of the refuge’s coastal plain section.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An ‘imposter nurse’ in Las Cruces is facing 34 charges after nearly causing the death of a patient and illegally giving medications to patients under 18 years old.
A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Margarita Gonzalez. She is accused of assuming the identities of nurses in Texas to get hired at four nursing facilities in Las Cruces:
- Village at Northrise
- Las Cruces Wellness and Rehabilitation
- Peak Behavioral Health
- Matrix Home Care
The New Mexico Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau investigated and discovered instances where Gonzalez illegally gave injections and dispensed prescriptions, including narcotics to eight inpatient residents under 18 years old.
An investigation also found Gonzalez was also about to allegedly give “an incorrect insulin dose” to a patient that they claim could’ve killed the patient if another nurse hadn’t caught the error.
Several facilities fired Gonzalez over patient safety concerns and an observed lack of knowledge.
“Impersonating a healthcare provider is a reckless and selfish crime that subjects those most vulnerable to risk of serious injury or death,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “I will not tolerate those who risk the safety of patients or cause danger and unnecessary confusion within the healthcare system. These charges should keep anyone attempting to pose as a healthcare provider on notice: we will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law to protect New Mexicans.”
Gonzalez’s charges include identity theft, nursing without a license, abuse of a resident, distribution of controlled substances to a minor and fraud totaling over $25,000.
If convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face up to 100 years in prison.
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