On June 1, Stephanie Garcia Richard, New Mexico’s Land Commissioner, signed Executive Order No. 2023-001 (PDF), banning new oil and gas leases on any state trust land that is located within one mile of a school. Effective immediately, the order applies only to state trust land. Federal, private and tribal lands are not covered by the order.
Garcia Richard stated that her action will help protect the health of New Mexico’s children. She said that the ban shows that her office and the State of New Mexico are committed “…to the students of New Mexico today – that their health, their access to clean air and water is a right that we should be protecting with our policies.”
In addition to banning new state trust land leases near schools, Garcia Richard’s “executive order also mandates State Land Office staff to review all existing oil and gas mineral leases, business leases and rights-of-way located within one mile of a school or other educational institution, and assess their compliance with applicable requirements, including the obligation to plug inactive wells, remediate spills and adhere to relevant air quality standards,” states an article posted at NMStateLands.org.
“We have an entire list of things we need to get through,”stated Garcia Richard. “It’s a lot of work, and while we’re prioritizing it’s going to take us a while to get through the list.”
The ban affects numerous areas in Lea County. As an example, data collected by the Associated Press (AP) from the Oil Conservation Division of the New Mexico State Land Office shows that Hobb’s Jefferson Middle School has about “45 wells with active and new applications for permits to drill for oil on state trust land.” On the south side of Hobbs, Heizer Middle School has 13. “Those numbers increase when oil and gas wells outside state trust land are included,”states the AP analysis.
Hobbs Municipal Schools Superintendent Gene Strickland does not feel that the active oil and gas industry near schools in his district is problematic. Strickland is quoted by the AP as saying, “We do not feel the industry is harmful to the district by any proximity of oil and gas wells within the region. The industry is made up of individuals who are members of our community. We share the same interests and also want nothing adverse to happen to the community we call home.”
Felix Garcia, superintendent of Jemez Mountain Public Schools in Northern New Mexico, believes that the issue of the proximity of oil wells to schools holds merit. Garcia is on record as stating, “I think it’s good that people are starting to raise some concerns because a lot of times nobody looks into it and then down the line you have health issues with the community.”
Republican Sen. David Gallegos of Eunice seems to side with Strickland rather than Garcia. Sen. Gallegos told the Albuquerque Journal that his “home sits about 65 feet from an oil well” and that “it [the oil well] hasn’t leaked or caused other problems in the 34 years he’s lived there.” About Garcia Richard’s ban Sen Gallegos said, “‘ It feels like this [ban] is just another chance for Santa Fe elites to push policy for political reasons instead of looking for input from those living in that area.'”
Earlier this month the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County hosted its annual EnergyPlex Conference – an open-to-the-public, free gathering that provides “an in-depth look at different energy industries within Lea County”. Conference speaker Lynn Granger, Midwest and Mountain West Region Director of the American Petroleum Institute, echoed the sentiments of Sen. Gallegos during her remarks. Granger said, “American energy is produced under some of the strongest environmental standards in the world.”… “So, when you hear policymakers – wherever they talk about enacting restrictions on our industry … these are the jobs, those are the people, and this is the scale of the impact that would be on the chopping block.”
Lawsuit Filed Against State
Environmentalists remain firm about the negative impact New Mexico’s booming oil and gas industry is having on the public and the environment. Garcia Richard’s action comes on the heels of a lawsuit environmental groups filed in May in state district court against the State of New Mexico and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham alleging “failures to meet constitutional provisions for protecting against oil and gas pollution,” states the AP.
The lawsuit states that 7% of New Mexicans (about 144,000 people) “…live or attend a school or day care within a half-mile (0.80 kilometer) radius of oil and gas production.” The lawsuit notes that almost 100% of children attending Hobbs Municipal District schools are “…surrounded by oil and gas extraction and production sites on state, federal and private lands.” The suit notes that the same is true in Eddy County.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has stated that she is proud of her administration’s record on the environment. About the lawsuit Lujan Grisham’s spokesperson Caroline Sweeney said, “Frankly, this is a misguided lawsuit that will only serve to distract the state from conducting additional work on environment and climate solutions and from enforcing nationally leading regulations this administration fought hard to get on the books.”
Balancing the safety of students, staff, parents – all stakeholders – against the revenue the state earns from the oil and gas industry remains a huge challenge in Lea County communities, as well as in numerous other cities and counties throughout the state. “The revenue from development there is fueling record state spending on education and other social programs,” states the AP. The unanswered question is whether this revenue is more or less important than the long-term health and well-being of those who are affected by the pollution the industry creates.
