New Mexico gas moratorium

A unique region gets special treatment

By FRITZ MAYER

GALISTEO BASIN, NM — The Galisteo Basin has some things in common with the Upper Delaware Valley. It is a pristine area that attracts a lot of tourists. Being home to the Pueblo Indians, it has abundant historical significance. It has spectacular mountain views. As a sub-basin of the Rio Grande River, it is an important source of water for just about all of the 160,000 people living in Santa Fe County, the home of the state capital.

When a company called Tecton Energy purchased mineral rights of 65,000 acres in the basin last year and applied for gas drilling permits, the community took steps to protect their community.

An organization, called Drilling Santa Fe, was formed in June 2007 with the purpose of slowing or halting the drilling. One of the people who founded Drilling Santa Fe is Johnny Micou. He wrote in an email, “A critical factor that we, first, got the county commission and, then, the governor to recognize, is the need for comprehensive baseline studies of hydrology/hydrogeology, archaeology, air, etc. The reasons for the studies are generally two fold. Firstly, if drilling were to occur, then there would be baselines to demonstrate degradation and subsequent accountability. Secondly, the studies may reflect that any degradation would be too damaging, thus there would be red line areas (such as critical management areas) to not permit drilling.”

Through letter writing campaigns and petitions, the group persuaded county leaders and, eventually, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, to impose moratoriums on drilling in the basin.

On July 15, Richardson extended the six-month moratorium by another six months, and ordered many departments of the government to do studies to determine the impact of drilling and fracking on the area.

Of special interest to people in the Upper Delaware River Valley was that the New Mexico department of tourism has already determined that drilling will negatively impact the tourism industry. Given that tourism is the second largest industry in Sullivan County and the Upper Delaware Valley, the impact on gas drilling here is also likely to be negative.

Micou said that without the pressure from his organization, “there would be no moratorium from the county or the state.”

He said that when Drilling Santa Fe began its efforts, they targeted county officials. The energy companies told him and his colleagues that the power of regulation resided at the state level, not at the county level. Under New Mexico law, it is not permissible for counties to impose regulations that are less strict than those of the state. However, the group learned that it is permissible for counties to impose regulations that are stricter than those of the state. That opened the door for a moratorium at the county level to allow time for county officials to study the issue.

The moratorium from the governor followed shortly thereafter.

Micou said his organization’s purpose was to “educate, educate, educate.” He said people had to learn “what it means to write an ordinance.” Also, people needed to be shown the connection between oil prices and the Iraq War.

He said, “Democracy is not a spectator sport: there’s either money or people power. If you get enough people power going up against the oil and gas industry, politicians will eventually start counting the votes.”

Micou also connected the local issue with national ones.

He noted that President Bush recently lifted a moratorium on offshore drilling that had stood for 27 years. Bush urged Congress to also lift that body’s moratorium to allow drilling to begin. Critics have countered that energy companies should concentrate on the 68 million acres already under lease but that have not yet been explored for gas or oil.

Micou said, “It seems like the energy companies are using the high gas prices for a land grab.”

But the land in the Galisteo Basin has been given a reprieve from the onslaught, at least for another six months.