Oil and gas industry, supporters push back on proposed setbacks for fossil fuel sites
Southeast New Mexico leaders warned state lawmakers against overregulating the region’s booming oil and gas economy via proposed statewide setbacks from oil and gas sites, which could define required distances between fossil fuel sites and homes, schools, bodies of water and other sensitive areas.
Local officials cautioned during a recent legislative meeting that such regulations intended to address environmental harm caused by fossil fuel production could stymie the state’s economy-defining industry.
Such setbacks were proposed during the 2024 Legislative Session concluding in February. Language was contained in House 133 which failed to pass even after the setbacks were stripped out during negotiations. Democrats signaled they could target new legislation to do so in the upcoming 2025 Legislative Session starting next January.
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Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez said the City of Carlsbad already put in place its own setbacks that he said were designed via collaboration with the industry and successfully mitigated environmental and public safety concerns in the Permian Basin oilfield city.
The Permian is the U.S.’ busiest oilfield is situated in the southeast corner of New Mexico, in Eddy and Lea counties, and West Texas. It’s where New Mexico’s oil and gas industry is centered and was credited with providing $13.9 billion to the state’s economy in Fiscal Year 2023, according to a report from the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA).
Lopez said oil and gas production must continue “long-term” in New Mexico, amid calls from environmental groups and lawmakers throughout the state to crack down on pollution purportedly caused by recent growth in fossil fuel operations.
“Our community has crafted setbacks for oil and gas facilities,” he said during a June 11 meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee in Carlsbad. “We must continue to support and regulate this sector wisely and ensure it continues to be a pillar in our community and a partner in our growth.”
Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-55) of Carlsbad opposed a statewide setback rule as she said the effects of certain air quality issues differed based on the locality. She said such regulations should be left up to municipalities and local jurisdictions.
"I think we all want to be healthy. But what I see here is a true lack of science. To even think about doing this as a statewide rule doesn’t make any sense to me," Brown said during the meeting. "If there is going to be any action taken it needs to be per locality. I question whether these setbacks are necessary based on the data."
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Oil and gas setbacks intended to limit health problems
Legislative Finance Committee Analyst Austin Davidson said the committee planned to hold another hearing on setbacks in September as the proposal was being considered. He said risks were higher for several health impacts like asthma, cancer and other respiratory problems for people living near oil and gas sites.
Davidson said 144,000 New Mexicans live less than a mile of oil and gas facilities, and that the state did not have statutory laws for setbacks that could address the concerns for those in “frontline” communities.
“Setbacks are meant to alleviate the risks of diseases for people living near those facilities,” Davidson said. “Proximity has been associated with health risks.”
Rep. Debra Sarinana (D-21) said the setbacks were intended to prevent vulnerable populations including children from breathing air pollutants associated with oil and gas. She said in some communities, like Eunice along New Mexico’s eastern border to Texas, “entire school districts” are surrounded by oil and gas facilities, meaning students breathe in chemicals like benzene every day.
“It’s constant. And it’s happening here,” Sarinana said.
Gunnar Schade, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University detailed the findings of a study conducted in collaboration with ConocoPhillips in recent years of air quality in Loving, south of Carlsbad and surrounded by Permian Basin oilfields. He said there was a sharp increase in oil and gas production in this area since 2015, causing an increase in air pollution emissions tied to the industry.
Schade said pollutants included ethane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which form ground-level ozone or smog when interacting with sunlight, along with nitrogen oxides and methane. Schade said all the pollutants discovered in the study were caused by oil and gas drilling operations the burning of excess natural gas known as “flaring.”
Pollutant levels in Loving were “substantially higher,” Schade said, than what the study found using similar monitoring in Colorado. Schade said this was because the New Mexico monitor was closer to oil and gas facilities and there was a higher number in the immediate area.
“The main reason for this difference is that at our site in Loving we are surrounded by oil and gas sites,” he said. “Proximity and density make a large difference in what you are exposed to if you live there. And there are people living in the middle of the oilfield.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: New Mexico oil and gas industry opposes setbacks for fossil fuel sites
