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"State regulators on Friday revoked a controversial oil drilling permit near the headwaters of Tierra Amarilla Creek along the scenic byway connecting T.A. and Tres Piedras.
Critics of the project responded by saying the Oil Conservation Division's reversal highlights the agency's inadequate process for evaluating drilling applications.
On its application, Fort Worth-based Approach Resources had stated that the proposed well site was 100 feet from groundwater and more than 1,000 feet from the nearest surface water. But during a Journal visit to the site — in an alpine meadow along U.S. 64 near the 10,507-foot summit overlooking the famed Brazos Cliffs — the ground was soggy and numerous springs and streams trickled nearby.
Experts for Rio Arriba County testified at an OCD hearing last month that Approach's drilling plans could endanger a vital source of New Mexico's surface waters.
"Everything is downhill all the way to Albuquerque," Rio Arriba County planning and zoning director Gabe Boyle said Friday.
Approach has said it plans to use a closed use system and truck waste off site.
OCD said in a news release Friday that the approval of the application "was based in part on representations from the operator" about the location of the well. However, OCD said the hearing "revealed that the proposed location is within a wetland and approximately 40 feet from surface water sources; therefore, the Oil Conservation Division cancelled the permit."
"I think it's a partial victory to be sure," said Rio Arriba County contract attorney Adan Trujillo, adding that OCD is largely forced to work on the honor system when it considers applications.
Trujillo represented the county in its request to OCD to revoke the permit for the "Woolley Family" site, as well as three others. On Friday, OCD suspended the three previously approved applications and referred them to the Oil Conservation Commission.
Six other applications had been pending. One of them — squeezed between T.A. Creek and an irrigation ditch — has been withdrawn by Approach. The other five applications were also referred to the commission Friday. The commission meets once a month and the Approach permits will be scheduled for the next available docket, OCD said.
Approach is proposing to drill within 90,000 acres near T.A. The county has responded to the proposal with a moratorium on new drilling as a way to buy time to update its drilling regulations.
Rio Arriba officials note that while thousands of wells currently operate on federal and tribal land in the western part of the county, drilling is virtually unheard of in the lush mountains in the eastern part. The mountains receive as much as 38 inches of precipitation annually and generate much of the stream flow that courses through the state.
Approach Resources has sued the county, challenging its authority to enact a moratorium and regulate the industry. Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. Similar moratoriums have been enacted by Gov. Bill Richardson and Santa Fe County for drilling on the Galisteo Basin southeast of City Different. Richardson has not weighed in on the Rio Arriba debate.
OCD spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter did not return calls for comment late Friday afternoon."
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