New Mexicans want to protect wildlife and way of life

An enormous crisis has been brewing that threatens New Mexico’s land and wildlife, our drinking water, and the health and safety of our families and communities. It’s a crisis that dozens of other states also face: Tens of thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells are leaking methane (a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than CO2) and other toxic chemicals into our air and water.

Orphaned wells are those that have been abandoned by bankrupt or defunct oil and gas companies, leaving no responsible party to plug the wells and clean up the mess. Over 56,000 of these wells have been documented on public, private and tribal lands across the nation, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there could be more than 2 million orphaned wells across the U.S.

The National Wildlife Federation recently released a report documenting thousands of abandoned or at-risk wells on federal lands in just five Western states. Many are in crucial wildlife migration areas, near communities or within a mile of major recreation areas. The hazards posed by these abandoned wells threaten not just the health of humans and wildlife, but also local economies that depend on healthy ecosystems for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation.

Here in New Mexico, there are more than 700 orphaned wells. Nearly 50 abandoned oil and gas wells on the Navajo Nation have contaminated already scarce drinking water supplies with arsenic, sulfate, benzene and other cancer-causing agents. Contaminated

water has also been documented as a serious threat to livestock and agriculture.

Fortunately, two of New Mexico’s leaders are fighting to solve this national crisis. Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández just introduced legislation that would provide money to states and tribes to hire thousands of workers to plug the abandoned wells and clean up surrounding areas so that ecosystems can be restored, wildlife can thrive, communities can be assured of clean air and water, and New Mexico’s outdoor economy can continue to prosper.

The Leger Fernández bill also includes additional reforms so we don’t face this crisis in the future. When oil and gas companies drill on public lands, they must put down a bond to pay for the cleanup of wells if they go bankrupt. The problem is that bonding rates haven’t increased in 70 years, thus failing to cover the cost of cleanup and leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab. The Leger Fernández bill modernizes this system by increasing bonding rates so energy companies that drill these wells will be responsible for cleaning them up — not the American taxpayer.

I want to applaud Luján and Leger Fernández for championing these commonsense bills that protect New Mexico’s communities, wildlife and ultimately our way of life. These bills not only will ensure the health and well-being of New Mexico’s families, but also will create thousands of local jobs in communities that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn. Please let Luján and Leger Fernández know you appreciate their leadership in tackling this serious crisis — and urge the rest of the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation to support these bills so that our communities and our beloved Land of Enchantment will continue to flourish for many generations to come.

The Rev. Andrew Black is the public lands field director for the National Wildlife Federation, a pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe and the Founder of EarthKeepers 360.