Should Northwest Sandoval County families have weaker oil and gas safeguards than Rio Rancho residents? That’s what is proposed in a draft ordinance being considered by the county.
Several drafts were never made public, but in mid-June a draft oil and gas ordinance was posted on the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission website. The draft divides the county into a “Northwest Energy Development Area” and a “Southeast Development Area.” The ordinance describes the Northwest area as including Counselor, La Jara, Regina, Torreon, Cabezon, La Cueva, San Luis, Gillman and Ponderosa, and different decision-making rules would apply to the two areas.
According to the draft, applications for oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Northwest area would go through only an administrative review ...
By Rick LoBello,
El Paso Group Executive Committee
The El Paso Sierra Club Group and the Greater Big Bend Coalition are petitioning U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and President Obama to establish an international park on the Rio Grande.
The proposed park boundaries include Big Bend National Park and protected wildlife areas in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila.
A new website, greaterbigbend.org, contains a link to the change.org petition drafted by our coalition and additional information on the international park project. Most visitors to Big Bend National Park — and park enthusiasts nationwide — have no idea that an international park on the Rio Grande was first proposed by Congress in February 1935. On Nov ...
By Miya King-Flaherty
Chapter Public Lands fellow
Despite a recent explosion that destroyed thirty-six storage tanks on July 11 in Nageezi, N.M., the Bureau of Land Management’s Farmington Field Office continues to lease lands and approve drilling permits.
The BLM’s Environmental Assessment reports, which are supposed to thoroughly analyze the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) before approving leases and drilling permits, constantly cite ‘Findings of No Significant Impact’ to the surrounding communities, land, water or sacred sites.
The explosion occurred at a newly developed WPX site that caused 55 residents to evacuate their homes — some lost their pets and others lost livestock. This site is less than half a mile away from many residences, and within 5 miles of ...
By Miya King-Flaherty,
Chapter Public Lands fellow
On August 15, NASA released a report that affirms what we already know about the infamous 2,500-square mile methane cloud that hovers over the Four Corners area.
Throughout oil and gas operations, methane leaks occur from storage tanks, pipelines and well pads, adding to the methane plume and exacerbating climate disruption.
The NASA study identified 250 sources in the San Juan Basin that significantly contribute to the methane cloud. Even more astonishingly, only 10 percent of these sources — also known as “super-emitters” — are responsible for more than half of all methane emissions.
In an effort to document and highlight the severity of methane emissions in the Four Corners, Sierra Club representatives ...
By Susan Martin,
Chapter Executive Committee
In August, New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn announced he was stepping down. In September, he was named New Mexico Oil and Gas Association executive director.
A recent Santa Fe New Mexican article about the Martinez administration’s favors to Helena Chemical Co. exposes just how submissive Gov. Susana Martinez and Flynn have been to polluting industries and campaign contributors. But advocates who have defended clean-water safeguards against Flynn’s dismantling efforts already knew that.
Almost any new Environment boss would be an improvement, given Flynn’s plundering of air and water protections at the behest of polluting industries.
The examples of this type of behavior from Flynn’s tenure are numerous. Most egregious was when Flynn discarded his own ...
