Wastewater bill makes waves in Senate
Panel approves proposal to ban use of fresh water for some drilling
New Mexico regulators have encouraged the oil and gas industry to reduce reliance on scarce fresh water since the 2019 passage of the Produced Water Act.
A bill that narrowly passed the Senate Conservation Committee on Tuesday would further restrict its use in the industry, which accounts for about 1% of state water use.
SB 86, sponsored by Sens. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, and Liz Stefanics, D-Cerrillos, would ban using fresh water for drilling “at depths lower than protected freshwater resource zones.”
Operators would need to use produced water or recycled water instead to drill and frack wells.
“I’m delighted that this came out of Conservation,” Sedillo Lopez told reporters following the committee’s 5-4 approval of the bill. “That’s a very important committee with a lot of expertise.”
Sedillo Lopez said the bill would allow the state to track the trajectory of water used by industry from its source to ultimate reuse or disposal. Legislators who voted against the bill and people who spoke in opposition countered that it would cost the state too much money and interfere with residents’ right to sell their water.
The bill now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Produced water surfaces from wells along with petroleum. The salty byproduct may also contain chemicals that help prevent corrosion in wells and pipes. It is often recycled for future fracking.
Under the bill, oil companies could face fines for “causing or contributing” to spills of petroleum or wastewater.
Currently, the Oil Conservation Division can fine companies that fail to report or clean up spills. But spilling wastewater or oil is not inherently illegal.
“Toxic fracking flowback is not water,” said Artemisio Romero y Carver, an activist with Youth United for Climate Crisis Action.
The bill’s provisions would cost the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department $2.3 million annually in staff and equipment costs, according to a fiscal impact report prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee.
The Environment Department would spend $405,000 each year for new staff to implement the bill’s regulations, and $150,000 to create a new data portal.
Several industry groups oppose the bill, including the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.
Jennifer Bradfute, an attorney for Marathon Oil, said the bill’s ban on certain recycling or storage facilities is an onerous restriction on industry.
“Industry is very concerned that SB86 seeks to change the Produced Water Act without seeking technical input from recycling companies, water treatment companies, the produced water research consortium and key state agencies,” Bradfute said.
Sen. Joseph Cervantes, a Las Cruces Democrat who voted against the bill, said it doesn’t clearly define “protected fresh water resource zones.” Sedillo Lopez said that definition would be determined by state regulators.
Two young brothers who police say were abducted by their mother Tuesday, sparking an Amber Alert, were found safe at a Northeast Albuquerque hotel Wednesday afternoon.
Elijah Covington, 3, and Javon Rosales, 6, were in the custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Police say their mother, Clorisa Renee Covington, took them from a dental appointment even though she does not have permission or the authority to do so.
The boys were found safe, with Covington, at the Suburban Extended Stay hotel on Wellesley near Menaul NE — a little over a mile from the dentist office where they were last seen. They were returned to CYFD custody, said the Albuquerque Police Department’s interim Chief Harold Medina.
Speaking in front of the hotel after the children were found, Medina said officers worked nonstop to find the boys.
“They’ve been working on arrest warrants, they’ve been working on phone warrants and other information to help them find the kids,” Medina said. “We want to thank the community because there has been a number of tips that we received from the Amber Alert.”
He said detectives are interviewing Covington and will forward a case to the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He said she could face an aggravated assault charge that occurred when she took her children.
The Amber Alert sent out Tuesday said Covington is known to spend time with her boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales. Gonzales is awaiting trial in connection with the gruesome death of 10-year-old Victoria Martens in 2016. He is charged with reckless abuse of a child resulting in death and tampering with evidence after prosecutors found he was not present when Victoria was believed to have been killed.
In June, former state District Judge Charles Brown ruled Gonzales is allowed to be around Covington’s two children unsupervised. The issue had arisen when Covington was applying for public housing at Healthcare for the Homeless and Gonzales was seen taking her younger son down the street to a gas station to go to the bathroom and buy a soda.
Gonzales’ attorney Stephen Aarons said he was upset that his client’s name had been dragged through the mud again. He said Gonzales and Covington had been dating and living with each other up until November, and they broke up because CYFD said they would take custody of Elijah and Javon unless they stopped seeing each other. He said Gonzales had not spoken to Covington in days and had not seen her in months.
Aarons said he did not know why the boys were in CYFD custody.
“We were surprised to learn that CYFD still had custody since she complied months ago,” Aarons said. “As far as we know, she has no drug or alcohol problems, very good with her two kids, loves them to death, chose them over Fabian, which Fabian agreed was the right thing to do in a lousy situation.”
Gonzales, who can be traced via a court-ordered GPS monitor, was at work Tuesday when the abduction occurred, Aarons said, and the law firm’s private investigator was working with detectives. Nevertheless, he said, officers searched Gonzales’s brother’s North Valley home for the children.
Medina confirmed Gonzales was not with the family when they were found.
“We did have information that there was a relationship,” Medina said. “Unfortunately, we don’t always have every piece of the puzzle at the time the Amber Alert went out.”