Mora County's DGS revision meeting November 19th 2008

A Public meeting for community input regarding changes to The Developmental Guidance System (DGS), the planning and zoning regulations that currently protect the Mora Valley will be held:

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19th @ 6pm
Mora School Board Room
Mora High School

Please plan to attend, tell you neighbors and pass this email on.

The DGS currently requires a lengthy procedural review for any development within Mora County that does not meet the DGS agricultural guidelines. This past year we have been notified of our County's jurisdiction over permitting for any oil and gas development in Mora County. While no permits have yet to be requested according to the County Manager Rumaldo Pino, the County has decided to address the DGS and theW Comprehensive Plan and make changes to include more informaiton on oil and gas permiting.

Currently the DGS does address oil and gas development and according to Drilling Mora County's attorney, Bruce Frederick, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, is complete in and of itself for issuing permits or oil and gas development in Mora County. Mr. Frederick wrote two legal letters. One reviewing the DGS and its inclusion of oil and gas permitting within the county, and another affirming the county's jurisdiction over permit requirements for oil and gas drilling on State Trust Lands by private companies. Both letters are available by emailing drillingmoracounty@gmail.com.

The DGS is a strong document designed and developed by the people of Mora County in the 1990s that protects Mora County from industrial development while protecting the agricultural basis of the County. Through a comprehensive review involving public input, any development can be turned down if it falls outside the DGS requirements of protecting the culture, water, air, land/soil and human and animal health. At this juncture in Mora County's history, with pressure from industry, it will take the influence of the people of Mora County to maintain the strength of the DGS. Only with public input will Mora County continue to be so carefully protected. Once again the people will have a say and will have influence on what happens to their County. There is hope.

"Setting the Record Straight on the Pit Rule," Joanna Prukop/Daily Times

"By Joanna Prukop Guest Column

Article Launched: 09/17/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

A story published on Sept. 14 on the decline of drilling permits on BLM land, and an editorial published Aug. 12 warning of a possible slowdown in natural gas production in the San Juan Basin were both inaccurate, misleading, and a disservice to Farmington Daily Times readers. In these cases the paper has erred by omission, leaving out relevant and important facts that would have provided much needed balance and context.

Evidence presented at a recent hearing held by the Oil Conservation Commission, or OCC, clearly and definitively demonstrated that a significant number of serious groundwater contamination cases have resulted from the use of pits by the oil and gas industry. The hearing, at which the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, or IPANM, was an active participant, is a matter of public record.

The story and the editorial fail to mention that in 2006, the Oil Conservation Division, or OCD, documented nearly 300 confirmed cases where pit substances contaminated ground water. In each case the contamination was self-reported by the operators. This key information was provided to the Farmington Daily Times on more than one occasion, yet to date, the Times has not reported it.

Today, OCD records show more than 421 such cases of pit-related contamination. Such an increase in a relatively short period of time is a clear sign that the state has a problem with oil field waste pits currently in use, and from many other pits poorly closed in the past.

The industry was also fully engaged in the creation of the new Pit Rule. In fact Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, had stated that while the new regulations were tough, the industry could live with them. Furthermore, testimony during the OCC hearing clearly showed that any increased costs to industry that might result from the new Pit Rule are not unreasonable. Now, for some reason IPANM is using incorrectly inflated figures to generate opposition to the new regulations. The organization and the newspaper also fail to mention the testimony at the hearing that showed the new rules might actually result in cost savings.

The story and the editorial insinuate that the new Pit Rule is the reason for a projected drop in drilling permits. But, they fail to mention that the Bureau of Land Management recently began charging $4,000 to process each new oil and gas drilling permit application — a fee that was not assessed last year.

The new fee is required under an appropriations bill approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on Dec. 26, 2007. Now, companies must be serious about drilling before they spend $4,000 per application.

The editorial quotes Mr. Gallagher as saying, "rig counts throughout the state have dropped significantly since the pit rules implementation." However, in the Albuquerque Journal, on Aug. 10 "Gallagher acknowledges that a shortage of drilling rigs could slow new development. There are about 1,900 rigs in use today, compared with about 4,000 in 1980." The editorialist failed to mention rig counts fluctuate weekly, and this week the rig count is 90, 15 rigs more than the 75 one year ago.

The editorial states that more public outreach is needed on the Pit Rule, but fails to mention the outreach already conducted. The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division conducted a Pit Rule Training in Artesia on June 25 and met with 125 industry representatives. Training was held on June 27 in Farmington where OCD met with 225 people.

At the request of the Director of Governmental Affairs for the IPANM — who offered to pay for the meeting expenses but then withdrew her offer — the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division conducted another Pit Rule Training in Hobbs on July 23, attended by 150 people. The Oil Conservation Division has and will continue to offer training to anyone who asks.

The new Pit Rule was created with the input of industry, the environmental community and many other stakeholders in a completely public process. It is designed to protect the state of New Mexico and its citizens from any future ground water or other environmental contamination from oil field waste pits, and also to protect the operators from the potentially crippling liability of major environmental impacts. It is the right thing to do.

The Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department recognizes the critical role the oil and gas industry plays in New Mexico and works hard to balance the requirements of industry with the need and the mandate to protect and preserve our natural resources. The citizens of this great state are better served when they get all of the facts and context of complex issues instead of incomplete analysis and an apparent pro-industry bias.

Cabinet Secretary Joanna Prukop is with the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department."

Nearly 13,000 acres of Mora County land was leased today over the objection of Mora County citizens. The State Land Office auctioned State Trust Land

Nearly 13,000 acres of Mora County land was leased today over the objection of Mora County citizens. The State Land Office auctioned State Trust Land in pristine, agriculturally rich Mora County for oil and gas leases. KHL, Inc. of Albuquerque was the main lessee. The other was Daniel E. Gonzales of Santa Fe acquiring relatively few tracts to lease. Eyeballing the sales, it appears that the leases were obtained in the $28 to $50 per acre range. Cheap, especially when compared to the risk of public health, safety and well being, as well as the potential adverse impacts to water sources, to wildlife and to the land. A 640 acre tract leased for $3.13 for the low; a 40 acre tract leased for $375 for the high.

Some say that we need to "drill, baby, drill" to break the "addiction" to foreign oil and to stop exporting our "wealth" oversees. The proposition is that oil & gas drillers need to wildcat in frontier areas and drill in sensitive off shore zones. Such an argument has a hole in it so big that a semi-truck could drive through it, hopefully fueled by bio diesel.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Agency (EIA), "there is no empirical basis for believing that drilling in environmentally sensitive offshore zones would significantly affect gas prices. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency (EIA) projects that such drilling would add some 200,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production in about 20 years. This is about 0.2 percent of world production, and the EIA describes this as too small to have any significant effect on oil prices."


In addition, "Peak Oil" has become mainstream. The United States fossil fuels are in a state of depletion. The new, unconventional drilling methods can not change this fact. The EIA concluded that oil production in the lower 48 peaked in 1970; and in Alaska, production peaked in 1988.

As for natural gas, according to Local Energy News, "(n)ew gas wells just aren’t what they used to be. Even after drilling more than 300,000 new natural gas wells over the last 35 years, the U.S. produces less natural gas now than it did back in 1973. Putting more holes in the ground doesn’t make more gas – in fact, quite the opposite. Just ten years ago, the U.S. was drilling about 11,000 new wells per year to maintain a production rate of 20 Quads of gas per year – a rate that hasn’t changed in more than thirty years. Today, drillers must complete three times that many wells to produce the same amount of gas."

In any event, today was not a good day for Mora County, and we are not closer to solving our energy problems.

New York Plans to Consider Law Limiting Natural Gas Drilling

Assemblyman James Brennan, inset, plans to introduce a bill in the state's legislature that would permanently ban drilling in New York City's watershed. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)


"New York City officials seeking a moratorium on natural gas drilling in the city's watershed have found an ally in the state legislature.

Assemblyman James Brennan, who represents part of Brooklyn, announced Thursday that he will introduce a bill in next year's session that would permanently prohibit drilling in the city's watershed. Brennan's proposal is in line with that of city councilman James Gennaro, who called for such a moratorium in July and will hold a hearing on the issue Wednesday at City Hall. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection proposed its own conditions in a July letter (PDF) to the state, calling for a one-mile protective barrier around each of the city's reservoirs."...

A Comment Regarding Drilling in Mora County

My name is Kirsten Lear and I was raised in the rural town of Amalia, N.M. I have visited Mora and the land surrounding it for years. I believe it to be some of the most beautiful open land in New Mexico. I marvel at the colors of the grasses in the Fall and the pronghorn antelope and cattle disappearing as they walk through the tall swaying grass in the summer. The people of this area, through their traditions, know how to survive on their land. This is an understanding of community and respect for the land that we all could learn from. Few places are left where a meadowlark or hawk are the loudest things you hear or the smell of cut grass isn't overwhelmed with car exhaust. This area represents what this state is-farmers, ranchers, and wildlife coexisting under a huge sky where one can still see why the milky way got its name.

To destroy this area's water with toxic runoff, peace with the constant piercing whine of the oil wells and land with countless roadways would be a tragedy. Please keep me informed of the decisions to drill in this unique place.

"Mora Tries To Head Off Drilling" Albuquerque Journal North-- By Raam Wong

Nearly 13,000 acres in Mora County could soon be opened to oil and gas exploration.

The State Land Office is scheduled to auction off leases to land east of Ocate next week, a move opposed by some residents who say it could lead to large-scale energy development in an otherwise rural area.

“We're talking beautiful, untouched land that has never been exploited,” said drilling opponent Kathleen Dudley. “We don't want another Farmington.”

Meanwhile, county officials are hurrying to forestall any drilling until they can beef up their regulations.

The same day of the auction, Sept. 16, the Mora County Commission is expected to pass a moratorium on drilling for at least six months and as long as a year, according to county attorney John Grubesic.

Similar drilling bans have already been enacted in Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties, where, like Mora, operators are seeking to explore in largely untapped “frontier” areas.

Grubesic said Mora County will never be able to shut the door on energy exploration. But, he said, “we want to make sure we have as tough an ordinance as possible.”

To that end, residents recently sought an opinion from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center as to whether the county's Development Guidance System — Mora's planning code — can be applied to drilling.

The DGS is meant to “protect and improve the established rural character of Mora County and the social and economic stability of existing agricultural, residential and other existing land uses within the County.”

Law Center attorney Bruce Frederick said Tuesday an operator would likely need to complete an environmental impact report and a compatibility assessment before receiving a conditional use permit. But the county also hopes to strengthen the code to protect the environment and public health and safety, something Santa Fe County is already working on.

“This is a trend where counties are trying to assert more control over oil and gas,” Frederick said, “to make the oil and gas companies pay more attention to local concerns.”

The authority of local municipalities to regulate the industry has already been challenged in Rio Arriba, where a Texas-based company filed suit claiming that oil and gas regulations were the responsibility of the state, not the county.

But the suit was dropped after Gov. Bill Richardson intervened.

Dudley, who is part of the group Drilling Mora County, wants the Land Office to inform its lessees that they'll have to comply with local regulations.

Mora County state trust land for lease September 16th, 2008--2nd map

Click on title for map of state trust land for lease between Ocate and Wagon Mound

Mora County state trust land to be leased on September 16th, 2008-1st map

Click on title to view map of Ocate to Wagon Mound state trust land for leasing

State Trust Land leasing must comply with Mora County DGS

State Trust Land leasing to private corporations for oil and gas development must be accountable to Mora County Development Guidance System (DGS) for permiting for private drilling operations--according to latest legal research by New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), Bruce Frederick, for Drilling Mora County

In a letter to Drilling Mora County, Bruce Frederick, NMELC, lays out the reasons Commissioner Pat Lyons of the State Land Office, needs to inform all lessees for oil and gas drilling leases, on state trust land that they must comply with Mora County permitting. Frederick clearly outlines the reasons they must first contact the Mora County Commissioners for a permit to drill in Mora County.

The DGS is a set of laws governing the development in Mora County. All development, such as oil and gas development, even including those acres leased by the State Land Commissioner, that extends outside the strict guidelines of agriculture, must go through an extensive review including environmental impact statements.

This letter to Drilling Mora County outlines the County's authority, should they act on their right to protect their hundreds of thousands of acres of state land.

SOLAR POWER BREAKTHROUGH STORES ENERGY FOR LATER USE

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, August 2, 2008 (ENS) -
Within 10 years, homeowners could power their homes in daylight with solar photovoltaic cells, while using excess solar energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water to power a household fuel cell. If the new process developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finds acceptance in the marketplace, electricity-by-wire from a central source could be a thing of the past.

"This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, senior author of a paper describing the simple, inexpensive, and efficient process for storing solar energy in the July 31 issue of the journal "Science."

"Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon," Nocera said.

"Taxed off the Farm"-New Mexico's rural property tax laws could price out long time residents--High Country News

Next year, however, tracts of land smaller than 47.4 acres will not qualify for the grazing rate, even if cows, goats or sheep eat the grasses that grow there.

Those with fewer than 47.4 acres could see a tax increase from $6 to $115 per acre – the rate for irrigated agricultural land – or possibly even a much higher tax based on the property’s full market value. In sparsely populated Mora County, which has a median household income of $24,515 -- about 60 percent of the national average -- this could have profound effects on residents. "They’re classing people out," says Bruce Frederick, staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC).

About 600 parcels of land in the county are smaller than 47.4 acres, and nearly all of those are currently taxed at the special grazing rate, according to Romero. "The market here in Mora has gone pretty high," she says. And if the properties are assessed at full market value, "there’s no way people here would be able to pay their taxes. No way."

The change is meant to bring all counties into compliance with the state’s order, says Rick Silva, director of property tax at New Mexico’s Taxation and Revenue Department.

But there is nothing in the statute that directly references minimum land requirements. So where does the 47.4 acre requirement come in? "It’s an inference," says Frederick. "And I think it’s an unjust inference that conflicts with the law."

click on heading for full article

Letter-Writing Campaign-Mora-Toriam and State Land LeasesOrganizations on oil and gas

•Oil and Gas Accountability Project OGAP
www.ogap.org
•Common Ground United
www.commongroundunited.com
•Drilling Santa Fe
www.drillingsantafe.com
•Drilling Mora County
www.drillingmoracounty.blogspot.com
•Viva Rio Arriba
.wwwVivaRioArriba.blogspot.com
Write to the following addresses (sample letter below) and tell them to protect your water, your county’s most fragile and important resource which feeds the land and your families therefore the culture and way of life in Mora County from any industry that violates the mandate of the people via the governing laws of our Development Guidance System (DGS).

•Commissioner Peter Martinez, chair
•Commissioner Gino Maes
•Commissioner Laudente Quintana
•Interim County Manager Miguel Martinez
•Planning and Zoning, Rumaldo Pino, Chair
Above addresses:
Mora County Government
PO Box 580
Mora, New Mexico 87732

•Governor Bill Richardson
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
•Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish
State Capitol
Suite 417
Santa Fe, NM 87501
•Mark Fesmire
NM Oil Conservation Division
1220 South St. Francis Dr.
Santa Fe, NM 87505
•Representative Tom Udall
District 3
811 St. Michaels Dr. Suite 104
Santa Fe, NM 87505
•Representative Thomas Garcia
PO 56
Ocate, NM 87734
•Senator Phil Griego
PO Box 10
San Jose, NM 87565

Sample Letter:
ADDRESS
Dear NAME, DATE
I’m writing to ask you to impose a 1 year moratorium on all aspects of oil and gas development in Mora County until such time the necessary environmental studies for our aquifers, acequias, wildlife, wells, etc. are completed and that it has been concluded that oil and gas development is compatible with our agricultural laws of Mora County.

The DGS already states that no polluting industry is allowed in our agricultural County. Please stand by the County laws and help strengthen the DGS from the threat of oil and gas industry development.

Please support our rights and be informed of our deep concerns.

Sincerely Yours,
Address and name

Write to the Commissioner of Public Lands, Governor, Lt. Governor, and our State Senator and State Representative and Governor (addresses above)

Sample Letter:
Commissioner of Public Lands
Commissioner Pat Lyons
NM State Land Office
PO Box 1148
Santa Fe, NM 87504-1148

Dear Mr. Lyons,

I am asking that you will defer the leasing of all state lands in Mora County due to the sensitive area for wildlife and our water for our communities. Our County’s laws, a mandate of our people, upheld in our Development Guidance System (DGS), stipulate that as an agricultural County, no polluting industry is allowed to degrade our way of life. Once the “bread-basket” for the State of New Mexico, we are reclaiming that right and claiming renewable resources to off-set the degradation of oil and gas extraction. Look to Mora County for GREEN—solar, wind and agriculture for our future generations.

Thank you for holding safely the leases on our Mora County earth.

Sincerely Yours,
Address and name

"ANALYSIS-US oil firms seek drilling access, but exports soar" --Reuters

United States - By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON3 (Reuters) - While the U.S. oil industry want access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.

A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.

The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

"We can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country," President Bush told reporters this week. "We have got the opportunity to find more crude oil here at home."

The Grasshopper Infestation of 2008

The grasshopper infestation of 2008 is chewing up the land at a rate equal to the Bush administration’s oil and gas-drilling frenzy. It is non-stop, it is visibly apparent, and the devastation, nearly complete. Is there a halt in sight?

40,000 acres of State Trust land are on the leasing block for gas drilling in Mora and Colfax Counties. KHL, Inc. landman, Knute Lee, has been discussing this leasing with State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons.

This coming Tuesday, June 17th, at 11:00 a.m., at an advisory board meeting, Drilling Mora County, a group of concerned citizens, will deliver petitions asking Commissioner Lyons not to lease these state trust lands. During the public comment period, all New Mexico citizens can offer their opinion on what they think Commissioner Pat Lyons' responsibility to the state trust land and to the people should be.

The State Land Commissioner's sole purpose is to generate revenue for the New Mexico public schools. There is no environmental responsibility or higher authority to whom the Commissioner must answer while in this office. This gives an eerie autonomy to a person who tugs at the heart-strings of people who wish not only to enjoy these wilderness areas, but to ensure a high quality education for their children, as most funding for New Mexico schools comes from mineral leases on state trust lands.

But when places like Chaco Canyon and Whites Peak are up for lease for oil and gas drilling, the very outcry that education and sacred grounds and the last vestiges of wilderness are the two last straws to chose from, there is definitely something seriously wrong with this picture. Akin to William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, which do we choose? Who dies? The choice is between her young son and daughter. Our choice is our children’s education versus our state trust land. That was not a choice Sophie could live with. And neither is it a choice we can live with.

They tell us the situation is polarized, with only two options. But there must be other options. If we step outside the box and look at what is possible, we will find solutions. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. We now have reasons to develop new technologies—energy prices rising, coupled with the inescapable knowledge that our oil and gas reserves have peaked. These prices and the shortages might keep people at home more with their families, children, and neighbors. Maybe even evoke a return of the neighborhood community. This could be good.

If, however, we believe what we are told, that “we are in an energy crisis”, and “that we must drill, and we are un-American if we do not,” then we will continue to drill for the last drop available and continue to consume without reflection upon the devastation it is causing. But if we choose a different paradigm, and see that we have a grand opportunity in front of us to make a long needed change, we can have not only our children’s education and our wilderness and sacred sites, but oil and gas for future generations as well.

This will mean a choice. The current administration prefers a consumption paradigm; they would like us to continue to drive our gas-guzzling vehicles to put more profit into their coffers. Last year Exxon Mobil netted $1 million per 10 minutes according to a report last week on N.P.R. (6/4/08). That is $6 million every hour, $144 million every day. $52,560 million in net profit in 2007 from oil and gas revenues. Why, again, is the price of gas so high at the pump? But we can make choices, such as opting for conservation rather than consumption. We can choose to drive energy efficient vehicles. We can incorporate renewable energy into our homes and businesses. Solar is effective and dependable. Wind can supplement the energy grid, and compared to the devastation of oil and gas development, is a very acceptable renewable energy source.

How can we fund our kids’ educations in other ways? Perhaps a tax on vehicles that get fewer than 15 miles per gallon? We could reward those who do conserve and tax those who do not. Freedom is through choice. Democracy is about freedom. We can choose to see that we have an opportunity, or that we are under siege. It is our choice either way.

The Bush administration put a fast-track on coalbed methane and natural gas production this past decade. Water usage is enormous during these extractions—300,000 gallons of fresh drinking water to drill one gas well. On Ted Turner’s Ranch in Colfax County, coalbed methane extraction is causing a serious dewatering of the Raton Basin according to Gwen Lachelt of Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP). In a state where water is a fragile, yet plentiful resource if used wisely, we cannot afford the dewatering inevitably caused from oil and gas development. And besides, the resultant “gas” is not what is sold at the gas stations to fuel our cars. It is natural gas, not “gasoline.” The price at the pumps for gasoline will not be touched when these lands are devastated by the industrial development from oil and gas.

Gasoline prices at the pumps 35 years ago were 25 cents a gallon. Opec’s oil embargo in 1973 created shortages, and prices skyrocketed to $1.25. Today at $4.00 a gallon, gasoline at the pumps is still less expensive than a gallon of bottled drinking water. Which can we live without? Neither will go down in price, of that we are assured. Are we willing to dewater our land for oil and gas production rather than see that this “crisis” is an opportunity for us to make some creative changes in how we live?

Rather than join in the mad frenzy the oil and gas corporations and our current federal government present to us—the paradigm that promotes consumption—think of your dreams and your children’s dreams, and create a better world.

ACTION ALERT FROM RIO ARRIBA

Oil and Water Don’t Mix

Please Join us on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the Oil Conservation Division offices, 1220 S. St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe at 9:00 am and protect our future from the threats of oil and gas.

June 20, next Friday, 9:00 am 1st floor, Porter Hall, Wendell Chino Building, 1220 S. St. Francis Dr., Santa Fe, NM.

Please attend the meeting to support Rio Arriba County and email your support of Rio Arriba County to emnrd.nmocd@state.nm.usThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rio Arriba County is one of many New Mexico counties fallen victim to the relentless oil and gas industry. Four oil and gas drilling permits have been issued to drill in the historic Tierra Amarilla land grant area east of Chama, NM and another six permits are pending as part of an oil and gas development scheme of a Texas-based oil company, Approach Operating, LLC. Those ten permits are just the start of the development that encompasses over 90,000 acres of the pristine and sensitive Chama watershed. One of the four permits already issued is above 9,900' elevation, very near the absolute top of this beautiful, classic watershed and adjacent to the State designated Scenic Byway on highway 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras. Sadly, Approach has already bulldozed out a drilling site in the mouth of a once beautiful box canyon without the permission of the landowners just five miles south of Tierra Amarilla.

In answer to an outcry from landowners, acequia associations, concerned citizens, and the Rio Arriba County Commission, the State will hold an adjudicatory hearing on all ten drilling permits, (the four issued and the six pending) on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the Oil Conservation Division offices, 1220 S. St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe at 9 am in Porter Hall on the first floor. The offices are in the Wendell Chino Building.

All the abundant natural resources of this remaining sub-alpine landscape are threatened by the massive and unavoidable impacts of oil and gas drilling. Environmental degradation begins with the dirty work of building a drilling site, and continue to mount with related road building and pipeline creation, and carry on for another 30 years, the estimated life of the wells, putting all the innerconnected resources at risk. Heavy traffic, frequent trips, day and night operation, water pollution, air pollution, engine and equipment noise all contribute to a continuing disruption of the natural wonderland that now exists in our special places. Oil and gas drilling immediately endangers the eagles and elk, the deer and bear, the Rio Grande Cutthroat trout, and countless other native New Mexican wildlife that reside in these high elevation habitats. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish assert that native cutthroat trout have disappeared in all but seven percent (7%) of the streams above 5,500'. Adding insult to injury, all the streams in the area that Approach intends to drill are above 5,500'.

It is for the land, water, wildlife, and way-of-life that we ask you to join your fellow community members and speak up in the face of special interests that threaten all that makes New Mexico Enchanted. Stand with your fellow landowners and concerned citizens who would question the State as to why, with only cursory paperwork, it would allow the entire region to be immediately at risk, sacrificing our natural wonders for generations to come. As in the Galisteo Basin and in Mora County New Mexicans are starting to come together and resist by telling our politicians that the risks of oil and gas development are too devastating to compromise our water, our agricultural heritage, our wilderness and wildlife. By coming together as caring New Mexicans, we prove that we will not sit quietly as Mother Nature’s gifts are sacrificed to the rapacious oil and gas industry.

"County Approves Resolution Oposing Potential Oil Drilling In Ortero, NM"--El Paso Times

"By Gustavo Reveles Acosta
The El Paso Commissioner Court today voted 4 to 1 to approve a resolution opposing the potential drilling for oil and natural gas in the Otero Mesa of New Mexico.

Commissioners said they supported a movement to seek federal protection of the mesa by the U.S. Congress.

Commissioner Dan Haggerty voted against the motion, saying the country is currently in a gas crisis.

Environmentalists told commissioners the mesa is a potential water source for the county."

"Balancing Energy Needs and Safety"--Chemical & Engineering News

THE NATION'S EFFORTS to enhance natural gas production and increase energy independence might bring with them new threats. There are growing complaints that gas drilling, particularly in the Rocky Mountain region, is contaminating water supplies with chemicals and endangering human health.

Some environmental and citizens groups claim that exemptions in federal law are responsible for allowing gas operations to contaminate water and air. To remedy this, they are working for changes in federal, state, and municipal regulations. They have succeeded to a degree on the state and local level. And Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, is considering legislation that would end some of the gas industry's exemptions from federal environmental laws.

Gas exploration and drilling have increased greatly over the past two decades. According to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, between 1990 and 2005, the number of producing gas wells nationwide increased from roughly 270,000 to 425,000. The industry has experienced the greatest growth in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Waxman and numerous activist groups are especially concerned about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a method often practiced to enhance production of gas, composed primarily of methane. The procedure begins with the drilling of a production well. Then, a mixture of water, chemical additives ranging from diesel fuel to guar gum, and sand is injected into the well at high pressure. The mixture, or "fracturing fluid," is put in with enough force to form new cracks in underlying rock. Finally, to prepare for actual gas production, engineers pump the groundwater and injected fracturing fluids out from the network of fractures until the pressure declines enough to allow gas to be released from the sandstone or coal.

"Stop fueling oil and gas exploration misconceptions"--CEO Pat Sanchez

Tecton Energy, LLC , a company that specializes in unconventional tight gas basins (unconventional recovery “UCR”), has purchased tens of thousands acres of mineral leases in the pristine Galisteo Basin and Santa Fe County. However, the viability of production is being questioned.

First and foremost, Atrisco Oil and Gas, LLC is not drilling for oil. We are seeking, through the services of Tecton Energy Corporation, to find clean-burning and clean-producing natural gas, and to develop it as an energy source.

Mr. Sanchez adds, "Bob Gallagher, President of the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association says his industry “stands on it’s 90 plus years of operations in New Mexico, and during that time we have drilled close to 100,000 wells, and not one drop of water, delivered to the consumer, for consumption, has ever been polluted or contaminated by oil and gas drilling activities. These emotional obstructionists will say anything in an attempt to stop our industry from producing oil and gas safely and in an environmentally sound way.”' Interesting. According to the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) website , "The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division has detected and documented more than 700 hundred incidents of groundwater contamination from oil and gas facilities across the state. The data can be downloaded from the OCD web site (click here to download a pdf version or an Excel spreadsheet version).

Prior to 1990, only 39 orders were issued against oil and gas companies for contaminating groundwater. The earliest order was issued in 1954. Since 1990, 705 incidents have been recorded, for a total of 743 documented groundwater incidents related to the oil and gas industry in New Mexico.

Of the 743 groundwater contamination incidents, more than half have been caused by contamination from oil and gas industry pits.

Farmaggedon: Small Farms Saving the World

"Local, organic agriculture can cut 30% of greenhouse gas emissions

According to a recent report, organic, sustainable agriculture that localizes food systems has the potential to mitigate nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and save one-sixth of global energy use. To read the full report, click here to visit the Institute of Science in Society's website."

Farmaggedon is a new New Mexican blog

"Be Wary of Landmen"--Dover's Magazine

The oil boom has created a land rush by oil and natural gas companies and speculators looking to lock up drilling rights quickly and cheaply. Landowners are reporting encounters with fast-talking industry representatives using scare tactics to strong-arm owners into signing lowball lease agreements. Some unsuspecting landowners have signed leases granting drilling rights for a fraction of the going rate. Landowners are urged not to rush into signing any agreement and to check with a lawyer familiar with oil and gas leases and regulations. Follow this link for the full story.

"Falling Demand Pressures Crude Oil Prices"--Dover's Magazine

Crude oil prices are nearly $5 lower than last weeks record high of $135 per barrel, as investors and speculators are convinced that demand is weakening. Reports from several media outlets in the past week have carried predictions of significantly higher oil prices, including that of Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens who predicted $150 oil. But several economic measures suggest higher prices are cutting American consumers appetite for gasoline. The national average price for gasoline this week was up 7 cents to a record $3.944 per gallon.

National average prices for diesel also rose to a new record this week, adding a cent to average $4.778 nationally. High diesel prices are pushing the prices of consumer goods and food higher. Gasoline prices already average more than $4 per gallon in 11 states. The Energy Department said that demand for gasoline declined 1.1 percent in March, and they expect to report a decline over the Memorial Day weekend, although that data wont be available until next week. Despite this weeks decline in crude prices, analysts expect gasoline and diesel prices will continue to rise in the coming weeks. - Greg Henderson, editor

"'Hippie' defense red herring for gas derived profits"--SF New Mexican

It's a sign of our surreal times when the people trying to protect Santa Fe County from the horrors of drilling are blamed for record-high fuel costs. Never mind that the soaring prices are the fault of the international commodities market and multibillion-dollar energy corporations, industry will have you believe it's all because of those damn hippies.

As if there's even enough oil in the Galisteo Basin to make a dent in the national supply. The one well that Tecton Energy operated there, before temporarily abandoning, early this year, produced fewer than 50 total barrels of oil in nine months.

The company probably used more oil to fuel its semi-trucks, generators and drilling rig than it extracted from that dismal failure of a well.

What the company is really after — and is hoping you won't notice — is natural gas. No offense to those of you who know this, but I've heard and read enough bizarre comments to necessitate adding these lines: Gasoline is a nasty distillate refined from oil. There is very little oil left to extract in New Mexico. What I'm talking about is the "unconventional recovery" of natural gas and probably coal-bed methane. By "gas" I do not mean "gasoline."

As with oil, there's no guarantee that whatever gas is trapped deep beneath the surface can be released and recovered. The geologic formations in the Galisteo Basin and surrounding areas are so tight, they make any oil and gas operation risky and costly. It's a gamble, but played with human lives, not poker chips.

Gas drilling is tearing up the Rocky Mountains, from Montana to New Mexico. Live in a gasfield — and I know people who have — and you'll think you've gone to hell. Day and night, flare stacks burn methane, sulfur and other noxious gases — a ticking firebomb in our often tinder-dry land.

Toxic pits of antifreeze, carcinogens and even radioactive substances stagnate on private property, killing any animal that mistakes them for ponds.

County expects new drilling rules by February

Excerpts: Mora County, whose residents have been approached by at least one landman seeking to lease mineral rights in the area, passed an indefinite ban on oil and gas drilling May 20, which will remain in effect until the county finishes a rewrite of the document that governs development in the rural county northeast of Santa Fe. The Mora County Commission chairman said the moratorium will stay in effect until the Development Guidance System is "revised and fitted to the county's needs, whether it takes two months, three months, a year."

Drilling Mora County, an activist group similar to Drilling Santa Fe, has sprung up in Mora. "We are working to help educate people to understand what happens to an agricultural area when an industry like oil and gas comes in," said organizer Kathleen Dudley. "We want people to understand if they choose to have oil and gas come into the county, their way of life will be changed. (But) as long as they are actually choosing it in a democratic process, then it's legitimate."

State Land Trusts Advisory Board Draft Agenda

D R A F T AGENDA


New Mexico
State Land Trusts Advisory Board

New Mexico State Land Office
Morgan Hall
310 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
11:00 AM


Agenda Item 1 - Call to Order - Chairman Raye Miller

Agenda Item 2 - Roll Call

Agenda Item 3 - Introduction of Board Members, Guests and State Land
Office Staff

Agenda Item 4 - Welcome - Commissioner of Public Lands, Patrick H. Lyons

Agenda Item 5 - Approval of Agenda

Agenda Item 6 - Approval of September 11, 2007 and December 11, 2007 Minutes

New Business

Agenda Item 7 - Election of State Land Trusts Advisory Board Officers
The State Land Trusts Advisory Board is required to elect a Chairman, Vice
Chairman and other officers it deems necessary. The Board will nominate
and elect officers.

Agenda Item 8 - Open Meetings Resolution
The State Land Trusts Advisory Board is required to conduct its meetings
in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. The Board will review and adopt
a resolution regarding the conduct of meetings in compliance with the Act.

Agenda Item 9 - Commissioner's Report
Presented by Commissioner Lyons
Key accomplishments and an outlook for 2007 will be presented.

Agenda Item 10 - Financial Report
Presented by Della Gutierrez, Assistant Commissioner for Administrative
Services
The status of the State Land Office's budget and revenue projections will
be presented.


Agenda Item 11 - The State Land Trusts' Management Program Update - Dennis
Garcia, Deputy Commissioner
* Commercial Resources - Presented by Jerry King, Assistant
Commissioner for Commercial Resources
* Surface Resources - Presented by Larry Kehoe, Assistant
Commissioner for Surface Resources
* Mineral Resources - Presented by John Bemis, Assistant
Commissioner for Mineral Resources
* Communications/Public Information - Presented by Kristin Haase,
Assistant Commissioner for Public Relations
* Special Projects - BLM Exchange Update - Presented by Dallas
Rippy, Assistant Commissioner for Special Projects
* Organization, Legal Foundation and Programmatic Responsibilities
- Presented by Robert Stranahan, General Counsel

Agenda Item 12 - Miscellaneous Business

Agenda Item 13 - Public Comments

Agenda Item 14 - Next Meeting Date, Time and Location

Adjourn

"State's New Pit Rules Long Overdue"--Las Vegas Optic, by Rose Josefa

It’s wonderful that New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Commission has signed the final version of the oil and gas waste pit rule.

The new pit rule should be celebrated because it is a long overdue, common sense, oil and gas regulation that protects public health, the environment, landowners and communities. The Oil Conservation Division does not have enough inspectors to inspect all oil and gas wells and certainly the oil and gas industry does not protect the public when left to its own devices.

The pit rule truly does protect water, communities and public health while still allowing for a productive oil and gas industry. It is important to site pits and waste away from water, homes and other community resources, and to use tanks or closed-loop systems when they are close to these resources. And it is critical for the state to know how many pits we have and where they are located. Rose Josefa, Mora

"Experts Stress Caution Over Oil, Gas Drilling"--Santa Fe New Mexican

Excerpts: Oil and gas drilling is not all bad, but energy development can have serious negative effects on the environment, economy and public health, according to a panel of experts who spoke Tuesday on the consequences of energy development. Those impacts need to be publicized, studied, and planned for, they said.

"We are not for or against oil and gas development. We are trying to better understand it," said Ben Alexander, associate director of Headwaters Economics, a Bozeman, Mont., group that has spent the past two years studying the economic effects of oil and gas development in the American West.

Denver energy attorney Lance Astrella elicited a slight gasp when he said he had "a great deal of respect" for the people in the oil and gas industry. "Like it or not," Astrella said, "fossil fuels are going to be with us for a while."

Astrella said several dominant themes have emerged in his work on energy cases. One he characterized as an "excess use of property," where negligent oil and gas drilling practices cause a loss of value for people who own surface and water rights.

Astrella also said "volatile organic compounds" contained in the gases that escape from pipe lines, holding tanks or transport trucks cause real health problems the industry dismisses as "perceived."
"Why is there a question about whether it causes health effects?" he said. "Because there has been a failure of government. The federal government has not done the studies to determine whether there is a health link between drilling fluids and people's long-term, low-level exposure to them."

Astrella said it is imperative that baseline studies of air and water quality be done before extraction activities begin. "And it's very important they be done by you and not the drilling companies," he said.

Astrella said new technologies exist to help reduce the impacts of oil and gas drilling, but energy companies won't pay for them, and inventors won't invent better ones unless they become required.

"Why is it important to do it right?" he asked. "Obviously, for the public. Some of the serious illnesses take years to develop, and if you wait, ... it's going to be too late for them. "No amount of money will compensate them for the loss of a child or a cancer they may have."

One of the few people who has done research on the health effects of the energy boom in the West is Theo Colborn, a professor at the University of Florida and president of a group called The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, based in Paonia, Colo.

Colborn said her group studied 224 chemicals found in products used in drilling in New Mexico. About 97 percent of them contained chemicals with serious health effects, according to Colborn. And about 47 percent of those contained "endocrine disrupters" that cause irreversible changes in organisms before they are born.

Mora Torium for Mora County

Mora County Commissioners voted today, May 20th, 2008 at the commission meeting to prepare a moratorium to halt any progress in the County on oil and gas development until such time the Development Guidance System (DGS) is revised to address such industrial development as oil and gas. "The moratorium would be in place between 6-12 months, or until the revision of the DGS is completed", said Commissioner Peter Martinez. County attorney, John Grubesic is advising the commissioners on the procedures on this development.

"Tap into renewables, not oil and gas"--Las Vegas Optic

David Giuliani’s article on the special meeting May 6 on oil and gas development in Mora County was fair and balanced. The meeting was a spirited event with people coming into a shared cohesive concern about the threats that oil and gas drilling could have upon the water, land and way of life in Mora County.

As Giuliani pointed out, citizens considering whether to sign leases for drilling should contact a lawyer who has expertise in land and mineral rights. The rancher who said he is happy with the results of having wells on his land in Texas said he signed a lease that was 60 pages long. He had considerable expensive legal help. We can be sure the lease he signed was nothing like the one being offered by KHL. Everyone does have the means to hire such help, but it is still crucial they get specialized legal help to get good protections.

It takes 300,000 gallons of water present and available quickly to drill one gas well. The county commissioners and citizens need to seriously consider whether Mora County can afford to lose this much water to every gas well drilled.

If New Mexico Land Commissioner Lyons decides to sell the public land leases of the wilderness of Mora and Colfax counties to drilling, it will change our water and culture forever. Citizens and New Mexico hunters need to call him to express their feelings about losing this pristine wilderness to drilling.

It would better serve Mora and New Mexico to begin in earnest to develop the renewable resources that our state is so perfectly situated to provide, rather than taking a terrible chance on opening Mora County to oil and gas development.

Pattie Cavalletto
Ocate

"Group to Fight Against Drilling," Albuquerque Journal North

Group To Fight Against Drilling

A coalition of local nonprofit groups and businesses announced Thursday they've banded together to form Common Ground United, a group dedicated to giving citizens a larger voice in oil and natural gas drilling issues.

Johnny Micou, who lives between Cerrillos and Galisteo and who has become a key figure in the fight against drilling in the Galisteo Basin, will be the fledgling group's executive director.

A total of 64 businesses and environmental groups are listed as members on the organization's Web site, which can be found at www.commongroundunited.org.

The stated goal of Common Ground United is to "protect our environment and community from the adverse effects of mining and drilling."

After a prolonged public outcry, Santa Fe County commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium in February on the granting of all drilling-related permits after months of debating how to best regulate proposed drilling in the Galisteo Basin.

Common Ground United will host an information booth at Santa Fe's CommUNITY Days on Saturday at the city's Plaza from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m."

"Stop Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge!"

Your senators will be voting soon on an amendment that would allow drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU.

The McConnell Domenici Amendment (No. 4720) would not only allow for drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and Intermountain West, it would also threaten public lands in the Rocky Mountain West, pollute drinking water, and endanger marine habitat on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Finally, it would keep the United States on an unsustainable path of fossil fuel dependency. Even if we drilled every national park, wildlife refuge and coastline, America has only 3% of the world's oil, so we would still be importing most of the oil needed to meet our demand.

Please send the message below asking your senators to oppose the McConnell Domenici Amendment and protect wildlife! "

Action alert and model letters below. Contact US Senator Senator Jeff Bingaman immediately: http://bingaman.senate.gov/contact/ . The vote could come up as early as tomorrow on this amendment.

"You Can't Drink Oil"

"Company at Sink Hole Accused of Pumping too Much Water"--Houston Chronicle

The saltwater disposal company nearly devoured by a giant sinkhole this week in Liberty County was injecting sometimes double the amount of saltwater into the ground that its state permit allowed.

But officials with the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates such permits, stressed Friday that the cause of the sinkhole in the small town of Daisetta has not been determined.

"We have no proven link between Deloach and the sinkhole," commission spokeswoman Ramona Nye said.

"BOOM,BOOM"--High Country News

In western Colorado, an energy boom of unprecedented proportions has been layered on top of a thriving amenity economy. Which will come out on top?

Rifle, Colorado
After an energy bust flattened the region 26 years ago, Rifle slowly rebuilt itself as a tourist and retirement town and bedroom community for the flourishing nearby resort towns of Aspen and Vail. Then, about five years ago, the energy industry invaded. High-wage workers poured in by the thousands to man the drill rigs that popped up to tap one of the nation’s largest natural gas reserves. The result, says one Rifle economic planner, has been a "perfect storm"of industry in Garfield County on Colorado’s Western Slope.

"Sinkhole and Town: Now You See It ..."--The New York Times

Excerpts:

“I’m used to things blowing up, not falling in,” Mr. Branch said.

Two trucks have already tumbled into the saltwater muck, along with two grain tanks, utility poles and pine trees. A work shed of the DeLoach Oil and Gas Well Vacuum Service adjacent to the pit hung precariously over the rim, likely to topple in next.

“I’ve got some lakefront lots to sell here,” said a neighbor, Harold McCann, 82, as he sat on his property staring out at what had been, barely 24 hours ago, a wooded field.

Officials expressed cautious optimism Thursday that the collapse had stabilized. “It appears to be slowing down, the hole does,” Corporal Bishop said.

But he said that “there are still chunks falling in” and that the authorities were prepared to evacuate Daisetta’s 1,034 residents if the hole suddenly grew.

"Mora County Residents Warned About Oil, Gas Drilling"--Las Vegas Optic

MORA — Most speakers during a public meeting this week on possible oil and gas drilling in Mora County had a similar message — beware.

A new group, Drilling Mora County, which opposes drilling, invited a number of people from environmental groups and government agencies to speak about the effects of energy development. Missing were any voices from the oil and gas industry itself.

Organizers said they had invited representatives of Albuquerque-based KHL Inc., which is looking to lease mineral rights northeast of Mora, a first step that could lead to eventual drilling. But the company didn’t show.

The forum was originally supposed to be in the form of a County Commission meeting, but that meeting was canceled, with Drilling Mora County carrying on.

Letter-Writing Campaign-Mora-Toriam and State Land Leases

Organizations on oil and gas
•Oil and Gas Accountability Project OGAP
www.ogap.org
•Common Ground United
www.commongroundunited.com
•Drilling Santa Fe
www.drillingsantafe.com
•Drilling Mora County
www.drillingmoracounty.blogspot.com
•Viva Rio Arriba
.wwwVivaRioArriba.blogspot.com
Write to the following addresses (sample letter below) and tell them to protect your water, your county’s most fragile and important resource which feeds the land and your families therefore the culture and way of life in Mora County from any industry that violates the mandate of the people via the governing laws of our Development Guidance System (DGS).

•Commissioner Peter Martinez, chair
•Commissioner Gino Maes
•Commissioner Laudente Quintana
•Interim County Manager Miguel Martinez
•Planning and Zoning, Rumaldo Pino, Chair
Above addresses:
Mora County Government
PO Box 580
Mora, New Mexico 87732

•Governor Bill Richardson
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
•Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish
State Capitol
Suite 417
Santa Fe, NM 87501
•Mark Fesmire
NM Oil Conservation Division
1220 South St. Francis Dr.
Santa Fe, NM 87505
•Representative Tom Udall
District 3
811 St. Michaels Dr. Suite 104
Santa Fe, NM 87505
•Representative Thomas Garcia
PO 56
Ocate, NM 87734
•Senator Phil Griego
PO Box 10
San Jose, NM 87565

Sample Letter:
ADDRESS
Dear NAME, DATE
I’m writing to ask you to impose a 1 year moratorium on all aspects of oil and gas development in Mora County until such time the necessary environmental studies for our aquifers, acequias, wildlife, wells, etc. are completed and that it has been concluded that oil and gas development is compatible with our agricultural laws of Mora County.

The DGS already states that no polluting industry is allowed in our agricultural County. Please stand by the County laws and help strengthen the DGS from the threat of oil and gas industry development.

Please support our rights and be informed of our deep concerns.

Sincerely Yours,
Address and name


Write to the Commissioner of Public Lands, Governor, Lt. Governor, and our State Senator and State Representative and Governor (addresses above)

Sample Letter:
Commissioner of Public Lands
Commissioner Pat Lyons
NM State Land Office
PO Box 1148
Santa Fe, NM 87504-1148

Dear Mr. Lyons,

I am asking that you will defer the leasing of all state lands in Mora County due to the sensitive area for wildlife and our water for our communities. Our County’s laws, a mandate of our people, upheld in our Development Guidance System (DGS), stipulate that as an agricultural County, no polluting industry is allowed to degrade our way of life. Once the “bread-basket” for the State of New Mexico, we are reclaiming that right and claiming renewable resources to off-set the degradation of oil and gas extraction. Look to Mora County for GREEN—solar, wind and agriculture for our future generations.

Thank you for holding safely the leases on our Mora County earth.

Sincerely Yours,
Address and name

Mora-Torium-a Great Success May 6th, Mora

250 people came to Mora last night to listen and ask questions of a panel of experts on oil and gas development. Gwen Lachelt, executive director of Oil and Gas Accountabiltiy Project, (OGAP) presented on the impacts of drilling, and Daniel Sanchez, Oil Conservation Division (OCD) compliance officer, spoke on the ideals of government oversight. The panel: Johnny Micou, Common Ground United and Drilling Santa Fe; Oscar Simpson, NM Wildlife Federation; Paula Garcia, Mora Land Grant and NM Acequia Association; Don Schreiber, Rancher, Rio Arriba County; Bill Sauble, NM Cattle Growers Association; Bruce Frederick, NM Environmental Law Center; and Nick Ashcraft, NMSU answered sticky oil and gas questions from the audience.

A haunting and quiet absence of Mora County government did not stop the movement that brought this gathering of concerned Mora County Citizens together. The threat of the degradation of Mora County's water, along with the noise, air and land pollution from oil and gas industry development appeared to galvanize the citizens into calling out for a moratorium as the meeting progressed. Our State Representative Tomas Garcia, however, did show, and gave his support and concern over drilling activities in Mora County and offered support on the state level.

Little opposition came from the crowd, which appeared to hearten the concerned citizen group, Drilling Mora County, who has been working diligently to help bring attention to this Leviathan in their agricultural County over the past few months. Focused upon helping people understand the impacts of oil and gas industry, they are working to build a coalition among the Mora County citizens and to bring the issue to the County government officials. The citizens appear to have a task in front of them. However, the County's Development Guidance System (DGS) prohibits any industry that pollutes and posses a threat to the water, air, land, agricultural way of life and culture of the county.

If Mora County government and the people work together, they have an opportunity to rebuild the agricultural way-of- life. Already, local groups have begun farmer markets and ideas of massive greenhouse production are solidifying. Once the bread basket of New Mexico, Mora County has laid fallow since the 1950s when cheap oil and gas made local food production of little value. But today, rich in water, land and know-how, Mora County is capable of becoming, once again, the agricultural producer for the State of New Mexico.

It was reported, however, that the oil and gas industry is lobbying state officials to change existing State laws to over-ride the power of the County's. Petitions were signed for Commissioner Pat Lyons, State Land Offiice, to request that Mora County state land be kept off the leasing block for oil and gas industry bidding. A petition for a moratorium was also signed to be presented to the Mora County Commissioners. More signatures are needed.

Should oil and gas get a foot-hold in Mora county, it will be equivalent to fighting a land war with China. Agriculture will fall to industry. Water will run slick with oil. Land will stink from oil and gas fumes and the air will be thick with industry. Drilling Mora County asked the crowd to consider what they want for Mora County. And the clock is ticking.

"Recovering From Wyomings's Energy Bender"--The New York Times

excerpts:
Eighty-five water wells in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have recently tested positive for hydrocarbons, indicating that toxic chemicals from drilling have leaked into the water table. Air pollution in the same area was so great this winter that vulnerable residents were warned not to venture outside. Oil companies argued that strong winds would rectify the problem.

The Bush administration,............... has lifted every possible impediment to industry.
For example, oil and gas companies are exempt from provisions of the Clean Water Act that require construction activities to reduce polluted runoff as well as from provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act that regulate underground injection of chemicals. The industry is also generously permitted to drill on critical wildlife winter range (close to 90 percent of all their requests to drill on winter range have been granted). Oil rigs are drilling for natural gas on the banks of the New Fork River (the headwaters of the Colorado) and in the foothills of the Wyoming Range. Well sites in many parts of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are so closely spaced that, with roads, gas pipelines and compressor stations, the development is continuous.

“One day, I fear I will wake up and all that will be left of Wyoming is a hole in the ground,” one resident of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem said.

"Mora County Fights to Protect Its Way of Life from Oil and Gas"

"Mired in the middle of oil and gas development, Mora County residents must now face difficult decisions on how to protect their cherished agricultural way of life. Oil and gas development does not respect the land, water, air, nor health of human or beast, and in today’s frantic race – funded by our federal government – more delicate and remote landscapes are being targeted for drilling. It is a shame to destroy these last vestiges of wilderness and traditional cultures that have preserved a way of life, unique and beautiful – and rich with values.

In October 2007, KHL landman Knute Lee, a small Albuquerque oil and gas “realtor,” came knocking on doors. Not to tell the residents in the Ocate area that oil and gas would be drilled on their property, but to negotiate to lease their mineral rights." (Beginning page 5, Rio Grande Sierran)

Common Ground United, Coalition

The mission of Common Ground United is to provide a platform allowing diverse organizations, from local to federal, to express a united voice concerning the protection of our water, cultural, ecological, and economic resources and the health and safety of our citizens from the adverse impacts of all extractive resource developments.
Governing Principles

We are committed to the idea that local citizens must have a meaningful role in developing extractive resource development policies and the determining voice in their communities.

We are committed to an honest, open, public, and transparent debate and decision-making process that holds public officials accountable for their actions.

We are nonpartisan and inclusive our coalition members include local citizens, community groups, businesses, and religious leaders.

We take a pragmatic, science-based approach to solving problems and are credible in all our research and communication.

We value collaboration by sharing what we know and working with others who share our interest in protecting our water, cultural, ecological, and economic resources and the health and safety of our citizens from the adverse impact of oil and gas development.
Local Action

"San Juan County outranks major metro areas in carbon emissions"

"FARMINGTON — San Juan County is ranked No. 6 on the nation's Top 20 Worst Offenders for Carbon Dioxide Emissions list in research published by a Purdue University professor.

Being one of few non-major metropolitan areas included on the list further sets San Juan County apart from other cities listed by Kevin Gurney, Ph.D.

San Juan County follows counties that include Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.

"This is really due to the electrical demand," Gurney said. "There is a wide-spread phenomena (in the U.S.) to produce power and send it to other areas."'

Rio Arriba County OKs Drilling Ban

"ESPANOLA — The Rio Arriba County Commissioners unanimously passed an amended moratorium on new oil and gas drilling within their county, approving a four-month ban while it continues to study environmental concerns."

Talking Heads

RADIO--Join Frank Splendoria, radio host, and Common Ground United, Johnny Micou, discuss the issues of oil and gas development in New Mexico.
April 28th, 1:00 KNMX
866 425 3555
505 425 3555

Free Energy at Luna Community College Renewable Energy Fair

Las Vegas--Luna Community College's annual renewable energy fair April 25-26, Friday-Saturday, at Luna Community College featuring alternative energy to oil and gas. Exhibits on passive and active solar systems, wind-generated power, and agricultural crops that produce energy. "How-to" create, benefit and afford renewable energy systems. Music, food, and ideas.

Rancher's Road Slimed by Drilling Fluid

"FARMINGTON — Río Arriba County rancher Bill Smith lost his patience with the oil and gas industry shortly before noon Tuesday.

He's shared the 4,140 acres his family homesteaded near Gobernador in 1910 for years, but he's kept his mouth shut about the industry that generates a lot of money for New Mexico.

But Smith had quite a few things to say when he discovered a quarter mile-long, six- to 12-inch wide swath of drilling fluid leading to a Paul and Sons-owned oil field water truck at about 11:30 a.m.

"ConocoPhillips just drilled a well that has a reserve pit," Smith said. "When I came out here on my motorcycle I found a truck that looked like it dumped this on the road."...

"Drilling Ban"--Rio Grande Sun

"The moratorium could last six months or longer while the (Rio Arriba) County develops an ordinance addressing the environmental and cultural effects of the proliferation of wells. It will apply to "any portion of the territory within the County that is not within the zoning jurisdiction of a municipality or not within Native American designated lands," the proposal states. Federal lands are also included in the draft." (full article)

"Vultures and coyotes"

"Vultures and coyotes," by Frank Splendoria:

"It was bound to happen. Change is inevitable and the vultures and coyotes are drooling on the doorstep of Mora County.

The “Gem of New Mexico”, as Sen. Phil Griego calls it, is facing two significant and simultaneous challenges: enforcement of a long ignored provision of state tax law; and potential development of oil and gas resources."

"Mora residents split over drilling"

"Rancher Tony Duran and hunter Gerard Moleski, both of Ocate, N.M., stand on polar opposite sides of an issue haunting the West — drilling for oil and gas. It's an issue that threatens to split the normally quiet, rural communities in Mora County."

"State can force mineral rights owners to allow drilling"

"Mineral rights owners in Mora County could be forced to allow drilling on their land, even if they don't voluntarily agree to lease the rights.

That's just one of the provisions of the state's oil and gas statutes that residents find confusing.

Mark Fesmire, director of the Oil Conservation Division of the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, which regulates oil, gas and geothermal activity in New Mexico, shed light on the leasing lingo and various possible drilling scenarios.

When a company approaches an owner to lease the minerals, it agrees to pay an annual fee for a specified number of years, he said. In Mora County, KHL Inc. is reportedly offering residents with mineral rights a 10-year lease at $1 an acre per year.

Fesmire said a company also pays an annual rental fee to the mineral rights owner if it isn't going to drill for a couple of years.

In addition, the company pays a royalty on any oil and gas extracted, usually one-eighth of the revenues from what is produced, Fesmire said. Mineral rights owners can negotiate for higher royalties.

But here's the kicker for people who don't want to lease their mineral rights, such as Rose Josefa in Ojo Feliz. She might have no choice but to allow mineral extraction from under her land — although she could make some money from it."

"Mora County residents torn over mineral leases"

"Knute H. Lee Jr. had a pitch for the eastern Mora County residents who showed up Feb. 10 for a barbecue he hosted in the Ocate Community Center: Lease out your oil and gas mineral rights through his Albuquerque company, KHL Inc.

A total of 116 people from surrounding communities turned out to chow down on barbecued beef brisket, chicken and potato salad, and to hear Lee's proposition.

"Several people were opposed to leasing," said Ojo Feliz resident Rose Josefa, who attended the event. "Many were interested in how the royalty and rental system works. The rest were quiet but not very welcoming. I didn't get the sense that people were jumping up and down over his offer."'