WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Groups Renew and Expand Lawsuit for Clean Air in Northwestern New Mexico

Oil and Gas Drilling Increasing Smog, Endangering Public Health
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

FARMINGTON, N.M. - WildEarth Guardians, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, and Carson Forest Watch today filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service over their refusal to curb harmful air pollution and safeguard public health in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico, including in the Navajo Nation, from oil and gas drilling.

“Public health is squarely at risk, yet the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service are pushing ahead with more oil and gas drilling,” said Jeremy Nichols with WildEarth Guardians. “It’s time to stop drilling away clean air in New Mexico.”

At issue is the failure of the federal agencies to limit ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog, while allowing more oil and gas drilling. A poisonous gas that forms when pollution from smokestacks, oil and gas operations, and tailpipes reacts with sunlight, ozone is linked to a number of ill health effects. A 2007 study by the New Mexico Department of Health found that increasing ozone levels increased the number of asthma-related hospital visits in San Juan County.

High ozone is especially of concern to those living on the Navajo Nation.

“Our communities are struggling with mounting air pollution and the public health cost of dirty energy,” said Anna Frazier, with Diné Citizens Against Ruining the Environment. “We need clean energy solutions that leave a legacy of clean air and healthy children.”

Typically an urban problem, ozone air pollution is on the rise in the Four Corners region. In recent years, ozone levels have climbed dangerously high in San Juan County, New Mexico. The region is currently on the brink of violating federal health limits for ozone air pollution. If the region falls into violation of federal limits, the largely rural region will be declared a “dirty air” area, a designation usually reserved for cities like Los Angeles and Houston.

Although many sources can contribute to ozone, in northwestern New Mexico oil and gas drilling is a primary culprit. Two key pollutants react to form ozone-volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. Oil and gas drilling operations are the largest source of volatile organic compounds in the region and are second only to the region’s two coal-fired power plants (the San Juan Generating Station and Four Corners Power Plant) in nitrogen oxide emissions.

There are more than 20,000 oil and gas wells in the San Juan Basin and more than 15,000 planned to be drilled, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Collectively, oil and gas drilling operations are the largest source of ozone forming pollution in northwestern New Mexico.

“Business as usual clearly isn’t the solution to solving our air pollution problems,” said Joanie Berdie with the Carson Forest Watch. “If the federal government is unwilling to safeguard clean, healthy air, then we need to think twice about allowing more drilling.”

Today’s lawsuit targets two major decisions by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to ramp up oil and gas drilling in the San Juan Basin. Specifically, the lawsuit targets:

The Bureau of Land Management’s decision to lease 28,510 acres for oil and gas drilling in the San Juan Basin through three separate lease auctions held in 2008 without requiring clean air protections. Leasing confers a right to drill and it is estimated that the decision could lead to the development of 712 new oil and gas wells with no safeguards; and

The Forest Service’s decision to authorize more oil and gas drilling on the 153,000 acre Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest. The decision, issued last July, would authorize more than 700 new oil and gas wells and more than 5,000 acres of new oil and gas leasing. The Forest Service itself concluded that the decision would “significantly” impact air quality in the region by increasing ozone air pollution levels, but required no safeguards be implemented.

“These agencies are turning their backs while the San Juan Basin chokes on pollution,” said Nichols. “It’s time to start confronting the impacts of dirty energy development. It’s time for these agencies to start taking responsibility for the health of the region they’re impacting.”

WildEarth Guardians’ lawsuit comes as other rural parts of the American West, including western Wyoming and Colorado, are reeling from unhealthy ozone air pollution tied to oil and gas drilling authorized by the federal government. If successful, today's lawsuit could have far-reaching implications, forcing the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to address the impacts of oil and gas drilling to clean air and public health throughout the American West.

More Details on Ozone in the San Juan Basin:

A violation of federal ozone health limits occurs whenever the three-year average of the fourth highest annual readings is higher than 75 parts per billion.

The State of New Mexico originally determined that San Juan County was in violation of the ozone limits, but due to a monitor malfunction, the three-year average in San Juan County is right at 75 parts per billion. Any additional ozone will tip the region into a violation.

According to State of New Mexico oil and gas drilling operations release more than 60,000 tons of volatile organic compounds, more than any other source. These operations also release more than 30,000 tons of nitrogen oxides. Emissions are expected to increase twofold by 2023.

A 2007 study by the State of New Mexico Department of Health (Myers, et al) found increasing ozone was linked to increased hospital visits. That study can be downloaded at www.nmenv.state.nm.us/aqb/4C/Documents/SanJuanAsthmaDocBW.pdf.

If the region violates ozone limits, San Juan County and parts of neighboring Rio Arriba County will be designated as “dirty air” areas, or nonattainment, triggering strict federal oversight and mandatory clean air regulations.

View complaint here: ../support_docs/complaint-san-juan-4-29-09.pdf.