In May, the Valencia County Commission approved an ordinance for a new Natural Resource Overlay Zone (NROZ). The NROZ ordinance sidesteps the Mineral Resource District (MRD) code that has been in effect since 2004.

The NROZ ordinance:

🛑     lacks many of the common-sense safety requirements that are written into the MRD code.

🛑     makes it very easy for an oil & gas company to come in and start drilling

🛑     was essentially written by a lawyer and Harvey Yates Jr., an ultra-wealthy oilman

🛑     was initially pushed through by the County Commission with no public input

Oil and Gas Drilling:

☠️     Puts our groundwater at risk of contamination

☠️    Puts our surface water at risk if there’s an oil spill

☠️     Puts our health at risk

🍼    More premature babies

⚰️    Decreased life expectancy

🧪    Toxic chemicals found in air, water and urine samples

☠️     Increases violent crime

☠️     Puts agricultural community in jeopardy

☠️     Litters the land with pump jacks and drilling equipment

Why put a new ordinance in place that makes it extremely easy for an Oil & Gas company to start drilling in Valencia County?

Why put a new ordinance in place that provides far fewer protections than the existing ordinances provide for our community?

Why sacrifice our community for someone else’s profit?

👉YOU CAN HELP! Yes, YOU!!👈

Please attend the Public Hearing at the Los Lunas Transportation Center (101 Courthouse Rd SE, Los Lunas). 

💡We’d like to give priority for public speaking to Valencia County residents, including youth, people from neighboring Indigenous communities, and people from other communities directly impacted by oil and gas drilling. We invite others to stand with us in solidarity and intend to fill the room!

Hearing begins at 5 pm, please show up by 4:30 pm to sign up for public comment. 

⏰ We’re expecting this hearing to go on for hours so please bring food and nourishment!

✅ We’re attaching a document with ideas of Talking Points

💟 Please RSVP for this event on Facebook and share on social media

☑️ Please check out our new instagram account

💻 See our website for more information

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions or concerns.

We hope to see you there,

Valencia Water Watchers 

Recent News Articles and Op Eds:

Ordinance Could Bring Oil and Gas to Valencia – May 12, 2022

Valencia County to Reconsider Opening Door to and Gas Development – May 31, 2022

New Mexico Oilman hopes to drill in Valencia County – June 1, 2022

Capital and Main: Valencia County to Ease Oil & Gas Drilling Rules – May 24, 2022

Harvey Yates’ Misleading Op-Ed – June 24, 2022

Oil and Gas Drilling: At What Cost? (VWW Op-Ed) – June 30, 2022