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Don Schreiber said his ranch in the San Juan Basin of northwest New Mexico is dotted with 122 oil and gas wells.
He said they spew harmful pollutants onto his land, threatening health problems and damaging the local environment.
Schreiber, a rancher in Rio Arriba County, said during his Tuesday testimony before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that action must be taken on the federal level to truly protect New Mexicans from fossil fuel pollution.
More:New Mexico ‘ready’ for federal air pollution restrictions, despite oil and gas opposition
He said his land was directly beneath a known hotspot of methane pollution, a cloud of the gas discovered over the Four Corners Region by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2014 believed the result of gathering air pollution from oil and gas operations in the region.
“We’re never out of the sight, the sound or the smell of leaking and venting gas wells,” Schreiber said. “It’s heartbreaking for us to know that the damage of methane emissions isn’t just limited to our families, it extends to our entire world as oil companies continue to release methane in ever-increasing amounts into our atmosphere and literally setting our planet on fire.”
New Mexicans like Schreiber living alongside oil and gas operations and activist throughout the state demanded federal regulators strengthen air pollution restrictions on the oil and gas industry, arguing in support of the EPA’s recent proposal to tighten its rules.
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The calls came during a three-day public hearing held by the EPA on its proposed regulations targeting methane emissions from oil and gas facilities throughout the country.
The regulations proposed by the EPA would expand upon a proposal from November 2021, adding monitoring requirements, set standards for zero-emission pumps, disincentivize flaring – the burning of excess gas – and processes to identify “super emitters” of air pollutants.
If enacted, the EPA estimated its proposal would reduce methane emissions by 87 percent, by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, while the initial 2021 proposal would have cut emissions 74 percent.
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This would avoid 36 million tons of methane emissions from 2023 to 2035, the EPA reported, along with 9.7 million tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which create smog.
It would also increase the capture of marketable natural gas – up to $4.6 billion worth through 2035, read an EPA report.
Public comments on the proposal were being accepted by the EPA in writing until Feb. 13 through the agency’s online portal or via email to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. with Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317 in the subject line of the message.
More:Oil and gas looks to ‘clean up energy’ in the Permian Basin amid pollution concerns
Comments can also be submitted by mail to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, Docket ID No. EPAHQ-OAR-2021-0317, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20460.
Oil and gas methane restrictions ‘needed now,’ groups say
Methane is known as a common greenhouse gas emitted by industrial sources like the extraction industry and is known to cause a variety of health impacts when breathed in by those nearby.
It’s a key component of natural gas that can be put to market but is often released into the air and adjacent communities.
New Mexico ranks second in the nation in crude oil production, and frequently in the top 10 states for natural gas, and methane emissions were recently targeted by State regulators in response to the recent boom in fossil fuel production.
More:‘Resource curse’ could imperil New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy, economists warn
But emissions don’t follow state borders, advocates argued, and several groups called for stronger standards to reduce emissions nationwide.
They advocated for provisions in the proposal to increase leak detection requirements for new and existing oil and gas facilities believed a primary source of methane pollution in the U.S.
New Mexico recently enacted similar, state-level requirements at the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department in 2021 and at the New Mexico Environment Department last year, intending to increase gas capture and reduce emissions.
More:$4.8 billion Permian Basin oil and gas merger starts off 2023 with growth in fossil fuels
Higher requirements curbing flaring – the burning of excess gas – along with the use of low-bleed pneumatic valves and expanded monitoring of abandoned oil and gas wells were also imperative at the federal level, Schreiber said, if the problem was to be addressed.
“I hope you hear me when I say those regulations need to be strengthened and improved,” he said. “I especially hope you hear me on behalf of my frontline family and frontline families across the country that we need these regulations, and we need them now.”
Kayley Shoup who lives in Carlsbad in southeast New Mexico and works as an organizer with local environmental group Citizens Caring for the Future, said before the EPA that she’s seen the impacts of expanded oil and gas extraction firsthand.
More:New Mexico Democrats hope to pass ‘green amendment’ to protect rights against pollution
Shoup’s region is amid the Permian Basin, the U.S.’ most productive oil and gas region shared with West Texas, which produces almost half of total U.S. crude oil output, according to the Energy Information Administration.
A plume of methane over Carlsbad similar to in the Four Corners region was discovered by NASA scientists last year, about 2 miles long and also attributed to fossil fuel activities in the area.
With the economic growth the industry brought to her hometown, Shoup worried her fellow residents could be at a greater risk of health impacts like cancer and respiratory conditions.
The EPA was considering designating the region in violation of federal air quality requirements, a move that could restrict oil and gas permitting and other regulatory activities.
More:Oil and gas, earthquakes top southern New Mexico environmental stories in 2022
“People that call the Permian Basin home are grateful for these new and stronger regulations, as we suffer from horrendous air quality that routinely violates Clean Air Act standards,” Shoup said.
“With no sign of oil production slowing down, it is more important than ever for the health of my community and the planet that the environmental agencies tasked with keeping our air clean are truly doing their job to minimize pollution as much as possible.”
Although New Mexico took steps to curb emissions, Antoinette Reyes with the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club said Texas’ actions were insufficient and federal rules were needed to protect New Mexico from Permian Basin pollution spewing from the east.
“Air pollution knows no boundary, these rules will meaningfully improve life for New Mexico communities bordering states lacking meaningful protections, like Texas,” she said. “It is vital that the EPA sets a federal floor for methane and other harmful pollutants from new and existing oil and gas operations.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
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