WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Community Reacts to San Juan Basin Oil Tank Explosion

Disaster Demonstrates Broader Problems with Fossil Fuel Industry
Contact: Rebecca Sobel, (267) 402-0724, rsobel@wildearthguardians.org

Additional Contacts: 
Samuel Sage, Counselor Chapter,  (505) 360-2090, samuelsage@hotmail.com
Kendra Pinto, Counselor Chapter, (773) 710-3065, kendrapinto@gmail.com

For Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wildearth_guardians/albums/72157668145615084, 

https://www.facebook.com/doodafracking.nn/

Last night, an explosion at a WPX Energy oil well pad near Counselor, in the Chaco Canyon area, ignited a massive fire that enveloped 36 large oil storage tanks and burned through the night, causing evacuations and the temporary closure of Highway 550.  The event demonstrates the increasing dangers of modern fossil fuel development, highlights the environment damage of the industry, and serves as a sobering reminder of the urgent need to build safe, clean renewable energy in place of fossil fuels. 

“For years, our community has dealt with the impacts of this industry—the noise, the light, the air pollution, and knowing that each well drilled locks in years of climate changing pollution,” said Samuel Sage, Counselor Chapter Community Services Coordinator. "But today, we reached the end of our rope as we watched the biggest disaster yet pollute the skies and blacken the earth.”

The explosion comes as the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees much of the development in the area, continues to approve additional wells for development.  Already, over 90% of the lands within BLM’s Farmington Field Office have been leased to oil and gas companies yet BLM plans to auction off additional acres for fracking during the January 2017 lease sale. 

“Enough is enough,” said Kendra Pinto, Counselor Chapter Outreach Intern.  “It seems like every month we see more wells here, and things are going to get worse if the drilling doesn’t stop.  At this rate, what will be left here for our children?  The land has changed.”

“I know people want jobs,” continued Sage. “But why must they come at the expense of our air, water, and climate?  Many other places are building clean energy generation and creating well-paying jobs in the process.  That is our future, not this dirty industry.”

“Unfortunately, this may be the tip of the iceberg,” said Rebecca Sobel, Senior Climate & Energy Campaigner at WildEarth Guardians. “The Obama Administration has already leased more than 10 million acres of public land to oil and gas drilling, and BLM continues to lease more land in New Mexico to fracking interests without studying these impacts. How many more explosions and evacuations will it take before we seriously consider the cost of these dirty fossil fuel industries and simply end this leasing program?"

The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for administering oil and gas operations across Federal, State, Navajo Trust, and Navajo Allottee lands. BLM Farmington has yet to complete an Amendment to the 2003 Resource Management Plan, which currently fails to analyze the impacts of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Mancos shale.