NM State Rep. Wirth Requests Galisteo Basin Drilling Moratorium

An article in the Santa Fe New Mexican reports on a letter sent by State Rep. Peter Wirth to Oil Conservation Division Director Mark Fesmire and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary Joanna Prokop asking them to consider a six-month oil and gas drilling permit moratorium for the Galisteo Basin. A draft of a new Santa Fe County ordinace governing such drilling is scheduled to be released today, but many residents and policymakers want more time to consider how drilling in the area should be regulated.

A moratorium, Wirth wrote, "would give the state time to determine whether oil and gas drilling in this area can be prevented all together ... or if any special stipulations are needed on approved permit applications." Wirth also said in his letter that the moratorium would give Santa Fe County more time to draft and implement its new ordinance.

"My feeling is that we should not rush the process," Wirth said Monday. "The Galisteo Basin has seen such limited oil and gas drilling. I'm concerned things are moving at a real high rate of speed, and I think we should slow down."

The acquisition of 65,000 acres of mineral rights centered in the Galisteo Basin area by Tecton Energy of Houston has caused an uproar among Santa Fe County residents and others who are fearful that extensive drilling will create pollution and other damage. The mineral rights for much of the land in the Basin aren't controlled by those who own the land itself.

Prukop said Monday that New Mexico has never issued a moratorium on oil and gas drilling permits before, though it did issue a temporary moratorium on open-pit mines in Otero Mesa in 2004. She said the division's attorneys are looking at state laws to try to define jurisdictional issues and options. She said she plans to meet with county commissioners after the next public meeting on the subject in December "to figure out a reasonable pathway forward."

... Tecton Energy representatives — who have estimated the basin area holds as much as 100 million barrels of "light, sweet crude" — began pumping oil out of an existing well last spring. But the company will need new permits to carry out its plans to re-enter two plugged wells and drill six more exploratory wells. The county's existing mining ordinance relates primarily to hard-rock mining.

County officials are also concerned about the drilling:

County Commissioner Mike Anaya also wants a moratorium at the county level to stall any drilling applications until the new ordinance is finalized. Anaya is the sponsor of a resolution that will be considered by the commission today, which calls for a three-month moratorium on drilling permits.

... Anaya and Commissioner Jack Sullivan told a crowd of about 500 people at a public meeting in Eldorado on Nov. 15 that the county's draft ordinance would be available for public review today and that written comments on the ordinance would be accepted through Dec. 21.

There was a huge turnout for an 11/15/07 public meeting organized by the Santa Fe County Commission to discuss Tecton's proposed plans, and passions ran high among attendees. Since then, public officials have been deluged with messages from those critical about the proposed drilling:

Wirth said he was prompted to ask for a moratorium in part because of the overwhelming public input he's received on the topic. "The number of e-mails, letters and phone calls I've received, it's really more than almost any issue I've faced since being in the Legislature," Wirth said. "I've not had a single person, constituent or otherwise, contact me in support of this proposition."

Background Information:

From the website of Drilling Santa Fe, a citizen's group working to stop or limit the drilling:

• Online Petition (iPetition.com)- Oil and gas exploration and development permitting moratorium (iPetition.com has a donation button and is only an option and those donations do not go to Drilling Santa Fe). For printing hard copies (pdf)
• The County Attorney is in the process of writing a new oil and gas ordinance to supplement the existing mining ordinance. The ordinance should strengthen, not weaken. On 11/15/2007, there was a public forum about the oil & gas issue. Click here for a newspaper article of the forum and click here about the ordinance process. The draft ordinance is on the BCC amended agenda (click here) under "Matters from the County Attorney."
• Click here for Santa Fe County Mining Ordinance overview flyer (PDF) and click here for the Santa Fe County Land Development Code, which contains the mining ordinance (Chapter 5).
• For upcoming events, click here.
• For an excellent educational website, go to the Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP)
• With permission, here are links provided by Tony Bonanno Photography (click here) of the Tecton public presentation (click here) and of the Santa Fe County public forum (click here). Tony says that anyone is welcome to download anything at no charge.

You can read our previous posts on this issue by clicking on these links:

• Join Noted NM Activist and Rancher Tweeti Blancett for a Discussion on Oil and Gas Drilling in Santa Fe County, July 10, 2007
• Grassroots Group 'Drilling Santa Fe' Sets Up Online Petition Drive, July 23, 2007
• Now Available: Video of Tweeti Blancett Event for Drilling Santa Fe, August 6, 2007
• Important Drilling Santa Fe Meeting Coming 8.23.07, August 15, 2007