From the SantaFeNewMexican.com, "Report: Nature bigger than energy in Rockies' economy."
Other reports: "Natural Dividends"; "Too Wild to Drill"; "South Shale Ridge."
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wilderness Society Report Article
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Upcoming Events & Information
There are some important upcoming oil & gas meetings. For information, go to High Desert Reports and to a Flyer received.
At these meetings, "closed-loop drilling systems" will be discussed. To learn more about true closed-loop drilling systems, go to WorldOil.com . Also, an OCD Press Release about an award for the pitless drilling system.
From the The New York Times an article regarding, "Minerals Management Service, the agency within the Interior Department responsible for collecting about $10 billion a year in royalties on oil and gas."
At these meetings, "closed-loop drilling systems" will be discussed. To learn more about true closed-loop drilling systems, go to WorldOil.com . Also, an OCD Press Release about an award for the pitless drilling system.
From the The New York Times an article regarding, "Minerals Management Service, the agency within the Interior Department responsible for collecting about $10 billion a year in royalties on oil and gas."
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Texas Firm Cancels Drilling Plans
From the Albuqerque Journal:
"A Texas engineering firm has reportedly dropped plans to drill for coal-bed methane in the pristine wildlife area that supplies the city of Raton's drinking water....
The city last month filed suit to bar the drilling. Raton officials feared that the huge volumes of groundwater pumped to the surface as part of the drilling process could pollute and diminish water supplies....
'The city will continue to be proactive in opposing any future drilling activities which do not accommodate and protect its water rights from depletion and contamination,' the city said."
"A Texas engineering firm has reportedly dropped plans to drill for coal-bed methane in the pristine wildlife area that supplies the city of Raton's drinking water....
The city last month filed suit to bar the drilling. Raton officials feared that the huge volumes of groundwater pumped to the surface as part of the drilling process could pollute and diminish water supplies....
'The city will continue to be proactive in opposing any future drilling activities which do not accommodate and protect its water rights from depletion and contamination,' the city said."
Letter to the Editor: "Drilling for Oil and Gas in Santa Fe County"
From the Sun Monthly:
"Meanwhile, the National Energy Bill, currently before Congress, includes an exemption from the Clean Water Act for the effects of fraccing (thanks to Dick Cheney's secret energy task force). This means that municipalities and individual property owners have to bear the burden of health risks, cleanup and property damage from groundwater contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing. Call senator Bingaman (988-6647) and Representative Udall (984-8950) to ask that this exemption be taken out of the energy bill." See "Fracing and Water" on this site.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Tweeti Blancett - She's Back!
Galisteo Community Association is bringing Tweeti Blancett back to Santa Fe County New Mexico rancher from Aztec, will present her graphic tale of how the ravages of oil and gas exploration and production have impacted her ranch and the San Juan Basin
When: Sunday, October 7, 2007
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: The
Directions: Across from County Road 42 (as well as, across from the church) is Via La Puente. Go east on Via La Puente and cross the wooden bridge over the Galisteo Creek. Stay to your right and pass the Fire Station. The Community Center is on the left (east) side of the road.
Mapquest map
Contact: Muriel Fariello: 466-4763
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Public Health and Toxics
From Earthworks: "There are a variety of chemicals used during the drilling and production phases of oil and gas; and different types of wastes are produced throughout the development process.
The purpose of the Oil & Gas Accountability Project's Public Health and Toxics Program is to help communities and citizens better understand and protect themselves from the health and environmental impacts associated with toxic oil and gas chemicals and wastes."
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Atrisco Oil & Gas, LLC agreement with Tecton Energy, LLC
The deal to sell Westland Development Co. last year may become more lucrative for former shareholders.
Atrisco Oil & Gas LLC announced Monday it has made an agreement with Tecton Energy of
Albuquerque Journal article -- subscription required
Atrisco Oi & Gas, LLC article
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Fracing and Water
Originally, Drilling Santa Fe began, "Drilling in Santa Fe County?" with a picture of a fracing crew along the Galisteo Creek. About fracing, from a editorial in the WCMessenger.com, "Depletion: Barnett Shale wells require fracturing of the limestone formation to release the oil and gas trapped within. Water, sand, and hazardous chemicals are injected under high pressure down the drilling hole to fracture the limestone. Each fracing uses between 1.5 and 6 million gallons of fresh water. According to Halliburton at the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council, each well is fraced an average of 17 times." (see related article, "How Halliburton Technology is Wrecking the Rockies" & "EPA to citizens: Frack you" & "The Costs of Fracking")
Consequently, Texas legislation, "Written by Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Arlington, SB 714 would require drillers to report groundwater use for drilling and fracing. This process of forcing sand and water into wells in order to release the gas can use up to 5 million gallons per frac, and as many as 17 fracs for certain kinds of wells. SB 715, also written by Fraser, would require better public notification of proposed injection wells so that the public can participate in the permitting process." DentonRC.com
Other concerns from the Telluride Daily Planet, "Amos said that in 2001 EnCana had a fracking accident less than 100 yards from her home, which blew up her water well 'like a geyser at Yellowstone .' For a time, the company paid for drinking water for her family, then assured her that the well water was fine. Later she became ill and was diagnosed with a rare adrenal gland tumor, which is linked to 2BE, a benzene derivative, and a chemical used by EnCana for fracking."
From a subscriber, "According to the article, a frac can use 5,000,000 gallons of water -- that is more than 15.3 acre feet. Also according to the article, some wells are fraced as many as 17 times, for a total of 260 acre feet of water. Using the County's figure of 0.25 acre feet of use for a normal household/year, fracing one well could use as much water as 1,040 households would use in an entire year!"
*Click on the bold, underlined above to link to articles.
From a subscriber, "According to the article, a frac can use 5,000,000 gallons of water -- that is more than 15.3 acre feet. Also according to the article, some wells are fraced as many as 17 times, for a total of 260 acre feet of water. Using the County's figure of 0.25 acre feet of use for a normal household/year, fracing one well could use as much water as 1,040 households would use in an entire year!"
*Click on the bold, underlined above to link to articles.
Friday, August 10, 2007
KSFR "Journey Home" with Diego Mulligan Interview
Please tune in to “The Journey Home” with Diego Mulligan for an interview with Drilling Santa Fe at 4:00pm, Tuesday, August 21, 2007.
Santa Fe County
http://www.ksfr.org/
http://www.r3productions.net/local.htm
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Have the Drillers Leased the Minerals Under Your Land?
Most land in Santa Fe county is split-estate. Most residents only own the surface of their land. The sub-surface rights belong to previous owners or the State or Federal government, and legally, the mineral rights take precedent over your surface rights. Oil & gas interests can lease those mineral rights without your knowledge. As of August 1st, Drilling Santa Fe has documented more than 80,000 acres of mineral rights in the Galisteo Basin and the Ortiz Mountains leased to oil and gas drillers.
Mineral owners should require stringent environmental restrictions in their leases. However, enforcement is difficult and seldom occurs with absentee mineral owners. The surface owners and neighbors are left with the damages.
The new Surface Owners Protection Act became law on July 1st, but it offers little protection for the environment, the water, or the neighbors.
Article about the Colfax County experience and why Santa Fe County needs strong regulations, monitoring and enforcement: "The Real New West: Colfax County, New Mexico Successfully Beaten Into Place."
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Statistics for Thought
Who Owns The West?
"Oil produced in
The article has some statistics to ponder when considering the adverse impacts of oil and gas drilling to water, environmental, and cultural resources. There are also adverse economic impacts.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of Drilling Santa Fe.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Coal Bed Methane Drilling in Sugarite Canyon
"Sweet Sugarite: Time to speak up to protect treasured wild areas" - The Raton Range
"CBM (coal bed methane) drilling allegedly can pollute and deplete groundwater, trigger erosion, impact wildlife, and create noise and light pollution."
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Gas Well Blowout
"Groups call for halt to drilling for remediation"- Billings Gazette
"That well suffered a blowout in August 2006. The incident released contaminants underground and into nearby springs and forced gas condensate and drilling fluid to the surface."
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Commentary: Fluid response to Otero Mesa
Nathan Newcomer - Albuquerque Tribune
"In 2002, a leak was discovered in a 6-inch crude oil gathering line near Monument, just south of Hobbs. Approximately 2,100 barrels of oil leaked from the pipeline, contaminating five acres of soil and polluting groundwater. This pipeline was only two years old.
In 2005, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division compiled information regarding groundwater effects from leaks, spills and releases from oil and gas operations. There were close to 1,400 groundwater pollution instances that are attributed to oil and gas activities over the past decade.
Industry can wax poetic all it wants when it comes to "environmentally sound drilling," but the facts and data demonstrate their failure to protect our dwindling water resources."
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The New Mexican Articles
"County seeks to ease oil-drilling fears" -"
In response to the article in The New Mexican, July 24, 2007, “
The article states, ‘“Think about the amount of tax revenue it could bring to the county,” Ulibarri said, citing the approximately $8.2 billion dollars in natural gas revenue generated annually in San Juan County, in northwestern New Mexico.” We would clarify that a small fraction of the tax revenue actually is returned to the County. Much of the gross revenue leaves
Although “county officials don’t think there are great untapped sources of oil in the county,” without strict regulation and enforcement, damages can and do occur. Exploration brings a strain on the infrastructure with the influx of temporary workers and the road building and maintenance required for every well.
"Energy development has high opportunity costs" - Sonoran Institute
Chicago Tribune, "In Minority Neighborhood, Kid's Risk of Cancer Soars," printed in The New Mexican, 'Environmental Racism'
Farmington Urban Well Pad
(Click on picture for larger view)
About the picture from a Farmington resident: "Here is a picture I took in Farmington a couple of days ago... note that this is inside a city that has a lot of good regs....but look at how close this is to the house (most regs are written for the distance from the well head to a structure... not from the pad perimeter). This well pad fence comes up right to the edge of the house and garage. It has an opaque green slat fence but the pad still is huge (acres) and has those big buildings that house the noise and other things. Notice the area... really nice large expensive homes... other areas of Farmington do not have this quality of enclosures...this is the best I have seen. Enclosures, noise specs, and closed loop are some things that should be demanded from the county in their new code. Even in the best of circumstances, this example below may be the best that anyone can expect here in NM, short of directional drilling from a remote consolidated location."
Farmington Urban Well Pad Upclose
(Click on picture for larger view)
From a resident in the Farmington area about picture: "Here is a shot of tank and housing on the pad from a different angle with with house roof showing in back. Backing out of the garage goes right up against the fence. People in Eldorado and Santa Fe need to know this could happen to them with much less protection and mitigation unless they can get really good codes in place."
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Oil and Gas Exploration in Santa Fe County
(Click images for larger views.)
In April, residents along the Galisteo Creek were alarmed and puzzled by the clouds of dust rising from the long lines of Schlumberger trucks winding down their road. But most of the activity down at the old oil well was cloaked in vague euphemisms, and guards kept the curious neighbors far away from the activity of the crews fracturing the formation under the well. The large amounts of hydrochloric acid poured into that well in the ‘80’s probably corroded the casing and chemical reactions hampered the flow of oil. Now they have the old, leaky casing repaired, and after new rounds of chemicals and thousands of barrels of water pumped into the formation, they hope to have the high quality oil flowing again. The exploration company is eager to drill more wells. They have secured mineral leases stretching from southeast of Galisteo, through the entire Ortiz Mining Grant, and then to sections north of the San Marcos Pueblo Grant.
Yes, they did find oil and gas back in the ‘80s. Three large production units covering hundreds of square miles were proposed. These units stretched from ten miles north of Agua Fria, back down the Sandoval County line, and included most of the San Marcos and Galisteo communities. But the boom turned to bust when prices plummeted. They ran into problems perforating and acidizing the hard rock formations in the exploratory areas south and west of Santa Fe. There was no pipeline to transport the natural gas. Now there is a proposed gas pipeline that would follow the Lamy railroad tracks back to the main pipeline along I-25. They plan to transport the oil in caravans of tanker trucks to refineries west of Albuquerque.
In the ‘80s exploration companies drilled several wells along Galisteo Creek and one near Bonanza Creek. Another well was drilled northeast of the San Marcos Pueblo Grant. They also drilled northwest of the village of Agua Fria, and a well was drilled near Goldmine Road. A geologist has written about the cores of those wells and theorized that the Santa Fe Embayment, as it has been called, could be as lucrative as the San Juan Basin, which now provides billions of dollars in revenue for the oil companies from thousands of wells drilled in northwestern New Mexico and southern Colorado. However, some are skeptical. According to studies published (Albuquerque-Santa Fe Rift)( Bruce Black) over the last twenty five years, Santa Fe County contains at least three geological formations with millions of barrels of high grade oil. These experts also estimate that other formations could contain trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Unfortunately, petroleum is found in the ancient basins that provide our limited water resources and hold the fragile habitat for wildlife and the remains of ancient civilizations.
Landowners south and southwest of Santa Fe are now learning that the mineral leases under their property take legal precedent over their surface rights. If the State or Federal governments own the minerals, some internet research (Go-Tech) will probably tell you what oil exploration company might be contacting you. However, if your minerals are privately owned and passed down through generations, it is a difficult project to discover who now controls those mineral rights. The exploration company that secures the mineral rights under your land still must negotiate and pay you some damages. But ultimately, the drillers can invade your property and bulldoze a large site, set up a waste pit (Waste Pit )( Oil & Gas Waste Disposal) , and begin to extract the minerals that they have leased.
New Mexico finally has a Surface Owners Protection Act that became law on July 1. But that act needs to be strengthened. It offers no protections for the neighbors and the community. This law still allows the rights of the mineral estate to take precedent over your rights as the owner of the surface. If you live within a few miles of oil and gas production as it is now carried out in New Mexico, the noise, the air pollution, and the potential water contamination will impact the value of your property and your way of life. Unfortunately, your neighbors may negotiate agreements to keep the noise and pollution away from their water wells and homes, but you might have the drilling rig and subsequent production facilities near your home and water well. Too many water wells in New Mexico have already been contaminated by oil and gas exploration and production. Landowners in Colorado have made some progress. On May 30, 2007, the Governor signed a new Surface Rights Act that brings surface rights in Colorado closer to equal status with mineral leases.
There is an opportunity now to urge Santa Fe County to strengthen their regulations to prevent some of the damage and health hazards that this level of oil and gas exploration and production has inflicted on our neighbors in northwestern and southeastern New Mexico. Ultimately, the state government must enact the environmental protections afforded residents of other states. Oil and gas resources can be exploited without the damage now allowed.
The Oil Conservation Division, our state agency charged with maximizing and regulating oil and gas production, has recently attempted to control the dumping of hazardous waste and is now attempting to write new regulations to minimize toxic pit pollution. Industry is pushing back. The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association sued the state over attempts to control the dumping of hazardous waste and is now fighting hard to weaken proposed regulations to control the pollution from toxic pits. New Mexico is at a crossroads. Santa Fe County officials need to hear from well-informed citizens, and we can be a part of that process that finally demands the strictest environmental protections.
* Where will the millions of gallons of water come from that are
turned to waste with every well drilled.
* Is Santa Fe County prepared for the constant fire danger from
flaring the toxic gases produced by oil wells and transporting flammable hydrocarbons?
*Will there be zoning to keep the constant noise and hazards of drilling
and production far away from water wells, homes, and aquifers?
*Will neighbors be notified of applications for drilling permits in their area?
*Will the many miles of roads that accompany this possible scale of drilling be
built correctly and maintained properly?
*Will drilling under or through our aquifers or near our water wells be absolutely prohibited?
There are several organizations working to educate the public and assist local governments grappling with the explosive growth in oil and gas exploration in New Mexico. Learn more about the threats to your air and water, your quiet nights, and peaceful country roads. Learn how to negotiate protections for the surface of your land. Here is a good place to start: (Oil and Gas Accountability Project).
Contact your county commissioner (Santa Fe County Commissioners). The link also has the district map. Ask your commissioner to regulate oil and gas to the fullest extent of the law and to demand that the county conduct a governmental hydrogeological study before considering issuing drilling permits.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of Drilling Santa Fe.
Want to know more about the history of oil and gas exploration in Santa Fe County?
Want to hear more about the exploration plans for Santa Fe County?
Want to learn about surface owner rights?
Would you like to be added to an email list?
Would you like to join Drilling Santa Fe?
Then, email: drillingsantafe@earthlink.net
For OCD - Well Reports:
Click here for EMNRD direct access. Then click "Well Files." Then go to "County" and select from the drop down menu "Santa Fe." Then click "Continue." Done.
Link to the OCD site is on the Drilling Santa Fe website under Educational Links.
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