WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Clean Air to be 'Significantly' Impacted by Carson National Forest Drilling Plans

WildEarth Guardians Continues Fight Against Dirty Energy Development in Northern New Mexico
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A coalition of conservation groups yesterday challenged the Forest Service to reverse course and protect clean air by appealing plans for ramped up oil and gas drilling in Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest. The groups filing the appeal include WildEarth Guardians, Carson Forest Watch, and the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

The Forest Service admits that its decision, which was issued last July 25, 2008, will “significantly” impact air quality in the region by increasing ozone air pollution levels and degrading scenic vistas in nearby wilderness areas. The decision opens up 5,000 acres for more oil and gas leasing and drilling on the Jicarilla Ranger District in the western portion of the Carson National Forest. It is projected that more than 20 new oil and gas wells will be drilled on top of the 724 that have already been drilled.

“This is reprehensible. The Forest Service doesn’t deny that its decision will worsen air quality, the agency just doesn’t want to do anything about it,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director. “We appreciate the Forest Service’s honesty, but honesty won’t clear the air. With public health at risk, doing nothing shouldn’t be an option.”

In an administrative appeal filed with the Forest Service Regional Forester in Albuquerque, the conservation groups have challenged the failure of the Forest Service to take responsibility for safeguarding clean air in northwestern New Mexico.

The appeal comes as air pollution in northwestern New Mexico is mounting. Ozone air pollution levels in San Juan County have triggered violations of basic federal health standards. A poisonous gas and the key ingredient of smog, high ozone is linked to unprecedented levels of oil and gas drilling. A 2007 study in San Juan County by the New Mexico Department of Health found that increasing ozone levels increased the number of asthma-related hospital visits.

Nearby wilderness areas are also becoming hazier. Oil and gas drilling operations are a key source of haze forming pollution, which degrade visibility. Scenic vistas in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area in northern New Mexico and Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado are increasingly obscured because of growing haze pollution.

In its own environmental analysis, the Forest Service discloses that more oil and gas development on the Jicarilla Ranger District will have a “significant” impact on ozone air pollution levels and a “significant” impact on visibility in wilderness areas. The agency responded by claiming it “has no regulatory authority over air quality.”

“If the Forest Service is a part of the problem, the agency needs to be a part of the solution,” said Nichols. “The Forest Service needs to stop turning its back on clean air and start confronting the impacts of dirty energy development.”

WildEarth Guardians is leading the charge to hold federal agencies accountable to clean air in northwestern New Mexico. Yesterday’s appeal also comes at the heels of an appeal filed two weeks ago challenging the Forest Service’s failure to protect air quality when authorizing oil and gas leasing on the neighboring Santa Fe National Forest and a lawsuit filed last week against Bureau of Land Management over the agency’s failure to protect clean air in the Farmington Field Office of northwestern New Mexico.

The Regional Forester has 45 days to respond to the appeal. For a copy of the appeal, contact Jeremy Nichols, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org.

View the appeal here.