Our dear friend and colleague Sebia Hawkins passed away on April 28, following an illness. According to her husband, it was peaceful and she was not in pain.
For 25 years, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center has worked every day to protect our region's water, land and air from toxic pollution; and to help New Mexico's many and diverse communities protect their environment.
New Mexico is in the Process of Making its Protective Regulations Much Weaker
Right now, states like Colorado, North Dakota, Wyoming and Texas are making their oil and gas regulations tougher. At the same time, New Mexico is in the process of yanking the teeth from it’s most important oil and gas regulations.
Industry groups are petitioning the State to rewrite the protective
“Pit Rule.“ The Pit Rule regulates the disposal and storage of oil and gas drilling wastes. (Go to case page)
If you don’t want the oil and gas industry to gut the Pit Rule, you need to take action now. See our Action Alert and find out how to
BE HEARD!
The public hearing begins May 14th in Porter Hall at the Wendell Chino Building in Santa Fe. (Get map).
TELL THE EPA TO DO THE RIGHT THING:
Don’t Sacrifice Navajo Water for Uranium Mining
Recently, something unprecedented happened: the EPA agreed to revisit its 1989 decision to grant Hydro Resources Inc.‘s “aquifer exemption” permit. We hope the EPA reconsiders all the facts and revokes this permit, but we need your help.
Revoking this permit could be our last chance to protect Navajo communities’ aquifer from uranium mining.
Groups Urge EPA to Revoke Exemption for Uranium Mining Operation in Western New Mexico
Environmental groups are hopeful that a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a permit for a uranium mining operation in western New Mexico could lead to the end to the project. Members of Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center had voiced concerns to the EPA about deficiencies in the decades-old permit application.
The Republic
Go to The Republic to read full story.
State Regulators Consider Revisions to Oil, Gas Rules
Schreiber says in his experience, industry simply wasn’t cleaning up after itself, and the pit rules helped change that. “In exchange for the benefit our land delivers to the state, we expect the state to responsibly regulate industry,“ Schreiber said.
Eric Jantz, attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, predicts what will happen after next week’s hearing. He said the oil and gas industry is calling in favors on Republican Gov. Susana Martinez and the Oil Conservation Commission she hand-picked. “We expect [the Oil Conservation Commission] to give industry everything they want,“ he said. “Bottom line is, if the pit rule is gutted, we’re going to have increased incidences of groundwater and surface water contamination.“ Santa Fe New Mexican
Go to Santa Fe New Mexican for full story.
NMELC Questions Oil Conservation Commission Members Bias
Commission Set to Hear Petition to Amend Pit Rule
SANTA FE, NM - On Tuesday, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) filed a Motion to Recuse on behalf of its client, Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) in New Mexico’s new oil and gas “Pit Rule” hearing. The motion asks for one member of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Commission to withdraw from the decision-making process, and for another to disclose her previous dealings with the oil and gas industry. The motion is based on public documents indicating that some Commission members may have already made up their minds to remove most of the substantive environmental protections found in New Mexico’s Pit Rule.
Activists Mount Campaign for EPA to Scrap N.M. Uranium Mine Permit
Environmental advocates are pressing U.S. EPA to revoke a key permit for a planned uranium mining facility in northwestern New Mexico adjacent to the Navajo Nation. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center and Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining say EPA is reconsidering a 23-year-old aquifer exception for Uranium Resources Inc.‘s project in the community of Church Rock, N.M. It is an area already polluted by past mining activities.
Eric Jantz, an attorney for NMELC, which has been helping ENDAUM fight new mining for years, said it “would contaminate potable water with radiation and heavy metals, making it unfit for consumption forever. The EPA has both the legal authority and moral obligation to revoke the aquifer exemption.“ Red Lodge Clearing House
Go to Red Lodge Clearing House for full story.