"COUNSELOR, N.M. — Members of the Navajo community have complained to Samuel Sage for years about the noise and vibrations that rattle their homes.

They tell him about the dust kicked up by heavy trucks traveling the surrounding dirt roads and the smells that come from some of the oil and natural gas wells and tank batteries that dot the land around their Navajo community of Counselor in northwestern New Mexico.

On one day recently, Sage stood on a hill overlooking a public school that serves Counselor. He pointed to wells and tanks in the distance, painted green to blend in with juniper trees and sagebrush.

“Monitoring shows pollution heading either toward the school across the highway or toward the chapter depending on which way the wind is blowing,” he said."

Susan Montoya Bryan and Christopher L. Keller report for the Associated Press May 31, 2023. [2]