WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, January 17, 2008
BLM Looks To Drill In Otero Mesa

Oil & Gas Industry Thinks It's Above The Law
Contact: The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance et al

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) notified the public that Harvey E. Yates Company (HEYCO) is seeking an Application for Permit to Drill in New Mexico’s wildest grassland - Otero Mesa, in spite of the fact that the agency has issued statements to the public and New Mexico’s congressional delegation to the contrary.

“In moving forward with this application to drill new wells at Otero Mesa, BLM is ignoring both the findings of the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD) about the risks to water from drilling on Otero Mesa and the rules enacted by the State of New Mexico to protect it from pits that hold hazardous materials,” said Nathan Newcomer, Media Director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.

The BLM’s analysis assumes that HEYCO will get a waiver from the New Mexico rules prohibiting uses of pits to hold hazardous materials on Otero Mesa, despite the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division’s determination that the use of pits to hold hazardous materials poses too great a risk to Otero Mesa, its water resources and other values.

“There should be no assumption that HEYCO will get a waiver from New Mexico’s Rule 21, a rule created with specific intent to prohibit all use of oil field waste pits in Otero Mesa,” said Mark Fesmire, Division Director for New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division.

"This well would be in the heart of Otero Mesa's desert grasslands and in the heart of the best aplomado falcon habitat," stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. "Drilling here is a setback that falcons and other imperiled wildlife cannot afford," continued Rosmarino.

The BLM needs to 1) fully consider the no action (no drilling) alternative, 2) consider a directional drilling alternative, 3) redo the analysis to assume compliance with the OCD rule prohibiting the use of pits on Otero Mesa - not assume that HEYCO will prevail in a lawsuit, and 4) accept the OCD determination that the use of pits to hold hazardous materials is not appropriate and that reducing “seepage of drilling fluid into the soil and eventually reaching groundwater” is the wrong standard for protecting the water resources at Otero Mesa.

Contacts: Nathan Newcomer, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance: 505-250-4225 Oscar Simpson, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, 505-917-2134 Nicole Rosmarino, WildEarth Guardians, 505-988-9126 x1156