New Mexico national parks some of the most threatened by oil and gas drilling, study says
Two of New Mexico’s national parks are the most at risk in the U.S. from nearby oil and gas drilling, according to a recent study.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the state’s southeast Permian Basin region, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park in the northwest San Juan Basin are both nestled in New Mexico’s most active oil and gas regions.
The study published Feb. 1 by the Coalition to Protect America’s National Park reported nearby fossil fuel extraction could impact air and water quality around both parks.
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“To protect our irreplaceable natural and cultural resources, treasured landscapes, our climate, and public health, the Biden administration and Congress must take action to curb the adverse effects of energy extraction on parks, surrounding landscapes, gateway communities, park visitors, and national park resources,” said Mike Murray, chief executive council with the Coalition.
The group advocated for stronger federal policy to prevent energy development around national parks like Carlsbad Caverns and Chaco Culture.
This would take the form of a prohibition on oil and gas developments on lands near national parks, policy to ensure wildlife migration routes are not impeded by fossil fuel activities near parks, stronger rules on oil and gas air pollution emissions nationwide, and other reforms on federal oil and gas land leasing, read the report.
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Joe Vigil, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association argued that fossil fuel operations have existed around Carlsbad Caverns and Chaco Canyon "for decades" and recent technological improvements reduced the industry's environmental impacts.
"Because of new technology, innovation, and continuous investment in minimizing our environmental footprint, New Mexico operators exceed environmental standards," Vigil said.
"Horizontal drilling, for example, gives operators the opportunity to produce energy with fewer surface impacts for a smaller footprint than multiple wells."
Carlsbad Caverns amid U.S.’ busiest oilfield
Carlsbad Caverns just outside the city of Carlsbad in southeast New Mexico is also near the western Delaware sub-basin of the Permian, one its most active regions for crude oil and natural gas extraction.
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This shale deposit shared with West Texas, due to the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, rose to become the busiest fossil fuel region in the U.S., contributing about 5.7 million barrels of oil per day in February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
That’s almost half of total U.S. onshore crude output of about 11.7 million barrels a day, the EIA reported.
As of 2022, the report cited 350 oil rigs in the Permian, many in the Delaware Basin, with new federal land leases recently auctioned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in July 2022, and another 3,280 acres planned for lease in southeast New Mexico this spring.
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New Mexico’s share of the Permian led it to become the second-largest producer of oil in the U.S., second only to Texas.
But that expansion also brought risks, including worsening air quality at the park via ground level ozone. The park is listed as a Class 1 airshed under the Clean Air Act.
Ozone is formed when volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some of which are released by oil and gas operations, interact with sunlight.
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That can bring haze on the surface, the report read, impeding park vistas and affecting the health of visitors who breathe in the air outside the caverns.
The report also argued oil and gas could threaten the park’s network of 119 caves and other formations, along with sensitive karstic aquifers that naturally filter ground water.
In public comments submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department, the National Park Service (NPS) reported VOCs from nearby oil and gas lead to ozone concentrations at the park in exceedance of federal standards.
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“Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) measured at Carlsbad Caverns NP indicate the main sources of VOCs affecting ozone formation are from oil and gas activities,” read the Park Service report. “The NPS has studied ozone formation at a number of parks. Carlsbad Caverns National Park stands out as being most affected by oil and gas sources.
In 2016 and 2017, the Park Service reported no days of ozone levels exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard, but saw 10 in 2018, six in 2019 and nine in 2020 – years during which fossil fuel production boomed in New Mexico.
And despite recent state regulations to limit natural gas emissions from oil and gas facilities in the state, the Coalition urged the federal government, through its Environmental Protection Agency, to establish national pollution controls to protect resources like Carlsbad Caverns.
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“However, a thorough assessment of the cumulative risks posed by oil and gas drilling on the wide-reaching cavern system connected to Carlsbad Caverns, and similar protections put in place, is greatly needed to protect these irreplaceable resources,” the report read.
Vigil countered that protections for parks like Carlsbad Caverns were already in place, and the industry works with the BLM and New Mexico Environment Department to plan extraction operations in harmony with recreational uses at the parks.
"These regulatory agencies manage their lands for a multi-use balance of recreation, economic, species and habitat sensitivity, mining, and drilling, while taking (applications to permit drilling) for approval," Vigil said.
"As an industry, we continually work together with our regulatory agencies to develop science-based policies and regulations that promote safety and environmental responsibility."
Chaco Canyon, a center of pueblo history threatened by extraction
To the north in the Four Corners region, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is nestled in the Chaco Canyon region.
It’s also in the center of an active natural gas basin, known for being below one of the densest methane clouds ever discovered by NASA in 2016, the study read.
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That discovery included about 250 methane plumes, the study read, along with several facilities leaking air pollution from gas processing facilities, pipelines and storage tanks.
About 90 percent of the lands around Chaco Canyon are already leased to the oil and gas industry, the study read, with about 37,000 wells drilled and 15,000 miles of service roads built.
Recently, the BLM and Interior Department said the agencies were considering a 20-year withdrawal of lands within 10 miles of Chaco Canyon from mineral development.
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This buffer zone was intended to prevent damage from oil and gas development, the study read, and New Mexico's congressional delegation recently introduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act to make the protections permanent under federal law.
This could protect up 4,000 archaeological historic sites, according to a report by Archaeology Southwest.
“Unfortunately, natural and cultural resources in the park and the surrounding Greater Chaco Landscape, the area’s clean air and water, and public health are threatened by the continuing presence of oil and gas development in the region,” read the Coalition’s report.
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On Feb. 1, a ruling by the 10th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court found 199 federal drilling permitting decisions in the area ignored federal environmental requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act, while ordering a halt on new drilling permits in the region.
“This case is about how the Bureau of Land Management, in the face of immediate, and continuing, protest by Diné communities, continues to embrace (former-President Donald) Trump-era decisions to allow fracking in Indigenous communities and thus, desecrating the sacred Greater Chaco Landscape, poisoning land, air, and water,” said Mario Atencio, organizer with Dine Care, in a statement following the ruling.
Although such policy might seek to protect the environment, any government actions to limit oil and gas production in the U.S., Vigil said, would only lead to greater dependence on foreign energy, to the burden of American consumers.
"Federal policy limiting domestic production increases our dependence of energy from unstable foreign governments which decreases our nation’s energy security, our national security and increases energy costs for Americans to heat their homes, commute to work, and buy goods at market because of increased supply chain costs," Vigil said.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas threatens New Mexico national parks, study says
