{"id":83021,"date":"2015-09-10T15:23:35","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T21:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=83021"},"modified":"2015-09-11T08:29:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T14:29:24","slug":"how-close-is-close-enviros-energy-industry-fight-over-chaco-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/09\/how-close-is-close-enviros-energy-industry-fight-over-chaco-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"How close is close? Enviros, energy industry fight over Chaco Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_83028\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/snowpeak\/15588023925\/in\/photolist-pKsGrc-9WJydn-7VzSfp-7fw6aY-4CfQYG-7VzWQv-vxxvs-vuCeT-e2A3UU-vxD1P-7VzZTZ-7VDfdJ-5eTWT2-7VDg7W-4CfRdA-8j18QW-7VDgaY-7VDg9J-7VA29r-7VzSuX-7aP5mv-7VDfJm-7VD7WL-7VDbf1-7VzWov-7VD6UA-7VzRWX-7VzRfR-7VzWD2-7VzS2c-7VzSDK-7VzSbz-7VzWj6-7VD6J9-7VD7rS-7VD6xW-7VzRmH-7VzRan-7VzSRz-7VDbVG-7VzX1p-7VD7KN-7VzS6D-7VzRra-7VDbJE-7VD6PJ-7VzR66-7VD7AW-7VD7PY-pfwrnw\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-83028 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon-771x472.jpg\" alt=\"A scene from Chaco Culture National Historical Park in Northwestern New Mexico. (cc info)\" width=\"771\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon-771x472.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon-336x206.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon-768x470.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon-1170x716.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ChacoCanyon.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">John Fowler \/ Creative Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwest New Mexico. <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">(photo cc info)<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>In a windswept corner of northwest New Mexico, Native Americans, tourists and archaeologists explore the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/chcu\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Chaco Culture National Historical Park<\/a>,\u00a0a quiet, ancient place.<\/p>\n<p>But a very 21st-century fight is under way \u2014\u00a0over oil and natural gas development on the outskirts of Chaco Canyon. While the opposing sides have plenty of claims and counterclaims, the argument comes\u00a0down to one question: How close is close?<\/p>\n<p>Environmental groups and some\u00a0\u2014 but not all\u00a0\u2014 Native Americans nearby want to shut down drilling in the area that includes the San Juan Basin, one of the nation\u2019s largest natural gas formations and a promising site for the crude oil business.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article was originally published by Watchdog.org,\u00a0a project of\u00a0the <a href=\"http:\/\/franklincenterhq.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Franklin Center for Government &amp; Public Integrity<\/a>, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote a well-informed electorate and a more transparent government.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a fragile area,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foodandwaterwatch.org\/about\/who-we-are\/\" target=\"_blank\">Eleanor Bravo, senior organizer of Food and Water Watch<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the few UNESCO sites in the world. Once you open up those roads it will be the demise of Chaco Canyon. It is crumbling as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But there is no drilling or development of any kind within the environs of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Chaco-Culture-National-Historical-Park\" target=\"_blank\">53-square miles<\/a>\u00a0of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s easy for people to misinterpret or misunderstand what the facts are out there,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/nm\/st\/en\/info\/directory.html\" target=\"_blank\">Victoria Barr, district manager for the Farmington field office for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management<\/a>, told Watchdog.org. \u201cYou always want to say, \u2018We\u2019re from the government, trust us.\u2019 But sometimes that can be a little challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are absolutely no oil and gas activities within the border (of the park), nor is there any opportunity for there ever to be,\u201d said Wally Drangmeister, vice president and director of communications at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmoga.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">New Mexico Oil and Gas Association<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s no horizontal drilling (under the park) and there is no desire to do that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s plenty of drilling outside the park. A big part of the argument\u00a0focuses on the proximity of rigs in an area that still turns up archaeological artifacts from the Pueblo people who\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/chcu\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">lived in Chaco Canyon between 850-1250 A.D<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0host of environmental groups and one Native American organization\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfreporter.com\/santafe\/article-10801-fracking-injunction-fails.html\" target=\"_blank\">went to federal court<\/a>\u00a0last month to\u00a0argue for an injunction to temporarily halt drilling in Navajo lands and the area around the Chaco historical park\u00a0\u2014 including\u00a0a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/krqe.com\/2014\/12\/04\/blm-considers-new-mexico-oil-pipeline-proposal\/\" target=\"_blank\">combination of the federal government, the Navajo Nation, state and private land.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs wanted 265 recently approved applications by the BLM to be nullified, many within 20 miles of the site.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Court Judge Robert Browning<a href=\"http:\/\/westernlaw.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2015.08.15-Chaco%20PI%20Denied.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0denied the injunction<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want any drilling anywhere,\u201d Bravo told Watchdog.org in August. \u201cIt\u2019s complicated because the land is so checker-boarded, but 20 miles (for a buffer zone) would be terrific. At least we could safeguard that area where the archaeologists believe would have artifacts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are existing leases within five, 10, 15 miles away (from the park), and those are valid leases with either the Bureau of Land Management, the State Land Office or in a lot of cases the Navajo allotees that are the owners of that land,\u201d Drangmeister said.<\/p>\n<p>Conventional natural gas was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.naturalgasintel.com\/sanjuaninfo\" target=\"_blank\">discovered in the San Juan Basin in 1921<\/a>. In recent years, whenever natural gas prices go up the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.capitolreportnewmexico.com\/2013\/08\/nms-lousy-economic-numbers-are-they-connected-to-natural-gas\/\" target=\"_blank\">New Mexico economy enjoys the ride.<\/a>\u00a0A\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs\/lfc\/lfcdocs\/finance%20facts%20oil%20and%20gas.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">10-cent increase<\/a>\u00a0in the price per thousand cubic feet translates into an extra $10 million to the state\u2019s general fund, according to estimates.<\/p>\n<p>In the past year a number of oil companies have moved into the San Juan, looking to use hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sanjuanbasinenergy.org\/oil-could-ignite-san-juan-revival\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Mancos Shale formation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But due to the steep drop in worldwide oil prices,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.encana.com\/operations\/san-juan.html\" target=\"_blank\">oil producers such as Canadian-based Encana<\/a>\u00a0have held off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not drilling there right now,\u201d said Doug Hock, manager of media relations at Encana,\u00a0headquartered in Calgary with U.S. operations based in Denver. \u201cWith the commodity prices where they are, this year we have not put much capital into that asset \u2026 (But) going forward, we still see it as a good asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Low oil prices have affected another part of the Chaco debate: A proposed 130-mile pipeline that would take crude oil from well pads and move it to a distribution center near Gallup, New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>The Pi\u00f1on Pipeline was expected to carry\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/nm\/st\/en\/prog\/more\/lands_realty\/pinon_pipeline.html\" target=\"_blank\">15,000 barrels of oil a day to start<\/a>,\u00a0but the company pitching the idea\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sbpipeline.com\/about\" target=\"_blank\">Saddle Butte LLC<\/a>\u00a0in Durango, Colorado\u00a0\u2014 has reportedly slowed the project\u2019s timeline because of low oil prices.<\/p>\n<p>Watchdog.org left messages with the company\u2019s media relations office to confirm that but\u00a0didn\u2019t get\u00a0a call back.<\/p>\n<p>For years, trucks filled with crude have lumbered across the dirt roads and highways of northwest New Mexico, some going\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/style\/medialib\/blm\/nm\/programs\/more\/lands_and_realty\/pinon_pipeline.Par.1027.File.dat\/SBSJ-ScopingMeetingPresent1-5-15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">as far as 750 miles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters say the pipeline\u00a0would reduce truck traffic and the air pollution that comes with it, while making San Juan companies more productive and efficient in the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPipelines are considered the safest way of transporting oil,\u201d Drangmeister said.<\/p>\n<p>But opponents say the pipeline would lead to a<a href=\"http:\/\/krqe.com\/2014\/12\/04\/blm-considers-new-mexico-oil-pipeline-proposal\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0five-fold increase<\/a>\u00a0in development of the San Juan Basin, which means more hydraulic fracturing. They also complain\u00a0it would be too close to Chaco Canyon, even though the majority of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/style\/medialib\/blm\/nm\/programs\/more\/lands_and_realty\/pinon_pipeline.Par.1027.File.dat\/SBSJ-ScopingMeetingPresent1-5-15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">the proposed route<\/a>\u00a0goes through two neighboring counties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe canyon is not the only sacred site,\u201d Bravo said. \u201cThere are artifacts and ruins all throughout that area that have not even been unearthed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The<a href=\"http:\/\/krqe.com\/2014\/12\/04\/blm-considers-new-mexico-oil-pipeline-proposal\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Bureau of Land Management has<\/a>\u00a0taken an estimated<a href=\"http:\/\/kunm.org\/post\/pipeline-plan-ignites-controversy#stream\/0\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a030,000 comments from the public<\/a>\u00a0and has received an application from Saddle Butte for a right of way.<\/p>\n<p>But the process is lengthy.\u00a0\u201cAt this point, we\u2019re not even close to making a decision on that document,\u201d Barr told Watchdog.org. \u201cWe don\u2019t even have a draft of the environmental assessment yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/nm\/st\/en\/fo\/Farmington_Field_Office\/ffo_planning\/farmington_rmp\/rmpa_mancos.html\" target=\"_blank\">BLM has also initiated<\/a>\u00a0the long and complicated process of conducting\u00a0an Environmental Impact Statement and forming what\u2019s called a Resource Management Plan Amendment. The agency will decide whether \u201cfluids and minerals leasing\u201d should be permitted in approximately 1 million acres that includes BLM property within a 10-mile radius of the Chaco national park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t keep holding on to something that\u2019s not working, especially a state like New Mexico where we get a lot of our money for education from the oil and gas industry,\u201d Bravo said. \u201cOur lawmakers need to have some vision. We need to look for an alternative revenue stream. Extractive industries are hurting our tourism, our air quality, our scenic vistas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of times they talk about the \u2018greater Chaco landscape,\u2019\u201d Drangmeister said. \u201cIf you use that term, that really encompasses the entire San Juan Basin \u2026 The opponents of oil and gas development in my opinion have used Chaco Canyon as a rallying cry, but when you dig a little deeper, the things they assign to that mean you have to go that extreme \u2018greater Chaco landscape\u2019 definition to have any credibility at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a windswept corner of northwest New Mexico, Native Americans, tourists and archaeologists explore the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a quiet, ancient place. But a very 21st-century fight is under way \u2014 over oil and natural gas development on the outskirts of Chaco Canyon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[118,119,147,107,116],"class_list":["post-83021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-economy","tag-energy-policy","tag-environment","tag-roundhouse","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}