NM Gov. Bill Richardson and Natural Resources Secretary Joanna Prukop announced Jan. 14, 2008, that an environmental assessment done by the US Bureau of Land Management on a drilling permit application for Otero Mesa is inadequate. They have asked the BLM, via an eight-page letter from Prukop, to do a full environmental impact statement instead.

Prokup's letter questions whether the BLM has properly evaluated potential damage to the area's ecosystem and aquifer from new roads, pipelines, well pads, and other structures.

By Nathan Newcomer, NM Wilderness Alliance

From Rio Grande Sierran, Jan./Feb. 2008

It has now been more than 10 years since the Bureau of Land Management has proposed opening the Serengeti of the Southwest, Otero Mesa, to oil and gas development. Likewise, it has been more than 10 years since a strong coalition of conservationists, sportsmen, ranchers, businesses and religious leaders have joined forces in calling upon the White House and Congress to protect the wildlife, water, and wildlands of Otero Mesa.

The public support for preserving Otero Mesa as a wild Chihuahuan Desert grassland and conserving its large, freshwater aquifer is tremendous. County commissions in Southern New Mexico are passing resolutions in support of a moratorium on drilling in the area. Citizens from across the state and nation are lending their voices to the cause in urging our representatives to protect this vast grassland.

Editorials in New Mexico newspapers are calling for a common-sense approach in dealing with how oil and gas operations impact our most sensitive landscapes.

Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici, Representative Tom Udall, and Governor Bill Richardson have all asked for a halt to oil and gas leasing and drilling in Otero Mesa. Furthermore, many state representatives, senators, city councilors, and mayors have sent letters to our congressional delegation in support of preserving Otero Mesa. In spite of this tremendous local support, the BLM continues to actively pursue and issue oil and gas leases in the grasslands of Otero Mesa, even though the agency has issued statements to our congressional delegation to the contrary.

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Yet, this is nothing surprising, and is certainly nothing new. The BLM and oil and gas industry have mandates from the Bush Administration to make drilling the number-one priority on our wildest public lands, over the values of archaeology, wilderness, water, and wildlife.

Sadly, this is just yet another example of the Bush Administration’s failed attempts at curbing our fossil fuel dependency, while allowing a few well-connected companies to reap profits at the expense of our water and wildest lands.

Over the past several years, the oil and gas industry has been quick to pat itself on the back for all the great work they do in protecting our water, wildlife, and wilderness lands. The industry uses well-tuned rhetoric like “working to be a good neighbor” and that “compliance with applicable laws and regulations is an important component of being a good neighbor.”

What is so disingenuous about these statements is that industry has a proven track record of ignoring property owners’ rights, degrading the environmental landscape, polluting water resources, and constantly fighting regulations that seek to protect our most valuable treasures.

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Take, for instance, the Oil Conservation Division’s rules that ban waste pits in places like Otero Mesa. Theses rules were adopted by the OCD back in 2006 due to a report that documented more than 1,400 cases of groundwater contamination caused specifically by industry operations. During the public hearings portion of the waste pit rules, industry packed the rooms with representatives crying foul over the new regulations, while ranchers, hunters, and conservationists could only stand aghast at the audacity of industry.

In November and December 2007, OCD held more public hearings in Santa Fe to discuss additional changes to the waste pit rules. Much like the previous rules that govern Otero Mesa, the new changes would prohibit unlined waste pits from being near groundwater, wetlands, rivers, floodplains, domestic and municipal water wells, homes, hospitals, schools, and even churches. What would seem like common sense turns out to be yet more disdain from industry.

At the same time this is occurring, Harvey E. Yates Company (HEYCO), the sole remaining company vying to drill in Otero Mesa, went to the OCD trying to get a waiver from the waste pit rules. HEYCO seemed to have missed the memorandum that these new waste pit rules are not subject to negotiation. Thus, after having their request for a waiver denied, HEYCO took their case to the New Mexico State Supreme Court, arguing that they have to have a waste pit in order to drill. As of the published date of this article, the outcome of the appeal to the State Supreme Court has not been resolved.

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However, in early November 2007, the BLM notified the public that the Harvey E. Yates Company was seeking an application for permit to drill in Otero Mesa, even though the agency knows that HEYCO must comply with the new waste pits rules.

So we’re faced with a situation where the oil and gas industry continues to fight laws and regulations that seek to protect our valuable water, wildlife, and wilderness resources while the federal agencies in charge of our wildest public lands continue to ignore public sentiment and move forward with a process that caters irresponsible drilling practices and condones the disregard for state laws.

This is entirely unacceptable and New Mexicans, along with our congressional delegation, must demand that we preserve Otero Mesa’s water, wildlife, and grasslands.

For more information, contact Nathan Newcomer of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (505/250-4225, nathan@nmwild.org).

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Otero Mesa grasslands (Photo by Stephen Capra)