Pleas to save the groundwater from oil and gas wastewater flooded Tuesday night’s Bernalillo County Commission meeting.
Public Pleas
More than a dozen public comments were in support of a resolution to oppose a proposed rule change that would change the parameter of how all fracked wastewater can be reused.
The rule change proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department is now in front of the Water Quality Control Commission awaiting a decision. The change would allow the reuse of the water used during the oil and gas extraction process called “fracking.” It would allow the wastewater to be reused after “a level of treatment appropriate for an application such as agriculture, potable water supplies, aquifer recharge, irrigations, environmental restoration and industrial processes.” One of the concerns in the resolution is the term “appropriate” and who gets to decide if it is “appropriate” for a specific use.
The resolution passed on a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Walt Benson casting the only vote against the resolution saying that allowing the reuse of the produced water in our drought state is “a choice to do something with that water instead of just letting it stagnate.”
Resolution sponsor Commissioner Eric Olivas disagreed with using the wastewater and said, “We need more information, we need more science before we can even consider it, much less support it.”
According to the resolution, in 2022, the oil and gas industry produced 266,160 acre-feet of toxic fracked wastewater, also known as “produced water.” For every barrel of oil produced in the Permian Basin in southern New Mexico, four barrels of “produced water” come out of the earth.
Many who spoke during public comment said that the wastewater contains a wide array of toxic contaminants and is not safe for irrigation, agriculture or drinking water uses. A representative from the oil and gas industry said test after test of the produced water from fracking has shown it to be safe to be reused and treated.
Read about steps the commission took to unify county behavioral health efforts here.
No Luck
Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Benson did not get help from their colleagues to put an updated resolution on the agenda to establish a process for the selection of the county manager.
In addition, they did not get any traction to get a recent memorandum from the county’s compliance officer which recommended that the commission redo last month’s vote to establish a process of choosing a new county manager. Current County Manager Julie Morgas Baca will retire at the end of June.
Quick Hits
Dozens of new jobs are headed the county’s way after commissioners approved an industrial revenue bond request along with some Local Economic Development Act, or LEDA, funds for Array Technologies Inc., the largest solar tracker company in the world. The money will assist with the construction of a new facility near Atrisco Vista Boulevard and I-40. The new 216,000-square-foot campus is expected to expand truck access, retain 252 jobs and create 51 new full-time jobs that will pay an average hourly rate of $30.56.
The last of the American Rescue Plan Act, or COVID money, pot was spent with $5.2 million headed toward improving the Rio Bravo Boulevard and Second Street intersection, with another $3 million slated for improving the popular Alameda Drain Trail and $750,000 will be used for the South Valley Economic Development Center addition.
A couple of new deputy county managers were also appointed. Danette Townsend is the new deputy county manager for the Community Services Division, and Wayne W. Lindstrom is the new deputy county manager for Behavioral Health.
