On June 24, advocates across New Mexico petitioned the Oil Conservation Commission to modernize woefully outdated laws governing oil and gas cleanup, financial assurance and operator transfers. New Mexico’s oil and gas industry is inadequately bonded to the tune of $8.18 billion according to a study commissioned by the New Mexico State Land Office and conducted by the Center for Applied Research

This is a huge financial burden which risks falling on the shoulders of taxpayers. Bonding is essentially “insurance” that would cover the cleanup of well sites in the event that oil and gas companies walk away from their responsibilities, and is legally required prior to drilling.

Petitioners include the Western Environmental Law Center, Citizens Caring for the Future, Conservation Voters New Mexico Education Fund, Diné C.A.R.E., Earthworks, Naeva, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, San Juan Citizens Alliance, and Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. The Western Environmental Law Center represents the coalition.

Old, abandoned, and orphaned oil and gas sites can leak methane and other pollution into the air and water, threatening New Mexicans’ health and the environment. An overwhelming 90% of New Mexicans support requiring oil and gas companies, rather than taxpayers, to pay for cleanup and land restoration costs after oil and gas production comes to an end.

Representatives from the organizations offered comment in a news release. Here is a statement from Sister Joan Brown, executive director of Interfaith Power and Light-New Mexico and El Paso Region.

“Abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells or those not properly dealt with accelerate climate change, threaten health, harm future generations and lay a burden upon ordinary people. Stronger bonding in the oil and gas field in New Mexico is an ethical action and helps industry with their moral responsibility of clean-upAre we not we all called to care for our neighbor and this sacred land, water and air that is a gift?”

The Petition

The petition includes:

• Updating financial assurance laws to require bonds of $150,000 per well for high risk wells that fully cover the costs of clean up, well plugging, and site remediation. The Oil Conservation Division estimates that well plugging costs the state $150,000 per well.
• Placing limits on the time that inactive wells can remain idle and requiring plugging and reclamation for wells that don’t come back into use.
• Requiring oversight of operator transfers to better ensure companies have the financial resources to properly clean up, plug, and reclaim well sites, and ensuring companies are in compliance with federal and state oil and gas laws before taking on additional well operations.

Ensuring oil and gas companies properly clean up their pollution and fully restore well sites when extraction ends, will open new doors to clean air, clean water, and new jobs for New Mexicans by:

• Creating new jobs in the oil and gas field for displaced oil and gas workers. Timely clean-up of inactive wells could inject more than $8.2 billion into the New Mexico economy and support 65,337 jobs, paying $4.1 billion in wages, salaries, and benefits, according to a 2021 study.
• Protecting drinking water supplies. Ninety percent of New Mexicans rely on groundwater for their drinking water. Oil and gas wells are drilled through aquifers and when left to degrade, can threaten our vital water supplies by leaking dangerous toxic pollutants.
• Protecting the air we breathe. When a well is left unattended without proper cleanup and restoration, it can contribute to air pollution and emit methane—a powerful greenhouse gas.
• Reflecting New Mexicans’ values. New Mexicans want out-of-state corporations to pay their fair share and act responsibly, including cleaning up their own messes. Our laws and our government should reflect New Mexico’s basic value of respect for all people.

See full press release from Western Environmental Law Center