What is one antidote to the Strategic Water Supply, the Governor's dangerous false solution to New Mexico's water scarcity and the oil and gas industry's waste disposal problem? That would be a new bill that dropped this week - SB 178, the Produced Water Reuse Prohibition and Abandoned Wells Fund Act. Sponsored by Senator Harold Pope Jr, SB 178 comports with science to protect our water by:

prohibiting fracking waste reuse outside the oilfield, with the exception of research conducted in accredited laboratories, and
assessing a fee per barrel of Produced Water to address the significant costs that New Mexico is already paying to deal with the oil and gas industry's toxic waste. This waste includes:

OCEANS OF LIQUID FRACKING WASTE

The oil and gas industry in New Mexico produces more waste than it does fuel. In 2023 the oil and gas industry generated more than 2 billion barrels of liquid fracking waste, aka "produced water," of which about 1 billion barrels was disposed via injection wells that result in:

Earthquakes - Saltwater Disposal Wells are causing increased seismicity - 2,404 earthquakes in the Permian in 2022. This seismicity increased as oil production has continued its steady rise.
Spills - Industry self-reported spill and discharge incidents in the OCD database confirm more than four spills of fracking fluids and waste per day, often during transport for disposal, with more than 16,000 reported between 2010 and 2024, of which at least 280 impacted ground or surface waters.
Blowouts - Blowouts are an increasing phenomenon across the Permian. In October 2024, after 5 earthquakes in Reeves County, Texas – 36 miles from the New Mexico border - a 100 ft. geyser of chemical-laden produced water erupted and was finally sealed after 19 days. It will take months to “clean up”. The health of residents are at risk from hydrogen sulfide, hydrocarbons and other toxins (arsenic, radium, and salt).

There is a real and present danger of blowouts across the Permian as increasing amounts of fracking waste are injected at high pressure underground into Saltwater Disposal Wells, where it threatens to contaminate aquifers or erupt to the surface, contaminating land and destroying surface water and property values in its wake.

TOXIC & RADIOACTIVE SOLID WASTE DISPERSED ACROSS NM

Solid waste from oil and gas operations include drill cuttings, contaminated soil, contaminated pipes, tanks, and pit liners that are disposed via landfills and “landfarms,” which are permitted to spread contaminated soils, drill cuttings and tank bottoms over land.

Oil and gas operators and waste facilities can also "downblend" sludges and liquids using large volumes of other materials to solidify the waste, such as wood chips, sawdust, cement, or other waste products in order to dispose of these liquids in solid waste landfills to decrease the concentration of radioactivity in a given volume of waste enough to meet landfill disposal standards.

This hazardous waste is trucked to disposal sites across the state and is exempt from hazardous waste regulations because of section K2 of the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, § 74-4-3 NMSA 1978, a section that exempts oil and gas waste from hazardous waste regulations. Solid oil and gas waste leads to an accumulation of radiation, heavy metals and salts, and can leach into land and groundwater.

THOUSANDS OF LEAKING ABANDONED WELLSLEFT FOR THE PUBLIC TO CLEAN UP

Inadequate bonding requirements and industry abuses result in the transfer of low and underperforming wells to subsidiaries that ultimately declare bankruptcy, leading to more than 1700 abandoned wells in New Mexico, with many thousands more inactive but unplugged. These abandoned wells are left to the public to clean up and pose enormous risks:

Abandoned wells release methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and can contaminate land and groundwater with carcinogenic and radioactive pollutants.
Taxpayers bear the financial burden of addressing abandoned well, and delayed action increases cleanup costs exponentially. The State Land Office estimated that the gap between financial assurance bonds on file and the actual cost of plugging and remediation exceeds $8.1 billion.

Delayed action increases cleanup costs exponentially, and improper plugging of abandoned wells can lead to devastating consequences, like the blowout described above.

HOW DOES SB 178 HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM?

SB 178 prohibits the oil and gas industry's dangerous plan to recycle their toxic waste by reusing it outside the oil field, and amends the Tax Administration Act to establish a $0.05 fee per barrel of produced water generated in New Mexico to fund the cost of plugging and remediation of abandoned wells. NMED estimates that this fee would generate approximately $68 million per year. The bill has been assigned first to Senate Conservation and then to Senate Finance. Read the one pager.

REMEMBER, THE ANTIDOTE TO DESPAIR IS ACTION!

"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear."- Joanna R. Macy

What's the antidote to the Strategic Water Supply and oceans of oil and gas waste? New bill - SB 178. The Polluter Must Pay.