Tell Your Legislators: Don't Let The Oil and Gas Industry Get Away With Polluting New Mexico
Oil and gas drilling is a dangerous and dirty business. Running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – a drilling project can dump toxic materials into our environment -- polluting our air, water, and land, and threatening wildlife and human health.
There's so much at risk. That's why it's so shocking that for the last eight years, the Oil Conservation Division (OCD), the state agency that enforces the Oil and Gas Act, has not been able to levy fines on violators when they pollute our state.
In 2009, Marbob Energy Corporation sued New Mexico, saying that OCD didn't have the legal authority to issue fines. The NM Supreme Court agreed, saying that the legislature needed to update the 1935 Oil and Gas Act.
Now, this session, there is a bill – SB 307 – that would make common sense changes to this outdated law and ensure companies that violate the Oil and Gas Act are held accountable.
Without this crucial legislation, the oil and gas industry will be able to continue running roughshod over our environment. We can't let them get away with polluting our state. We must send a strong message – one our legislators can't ignore – that we want polluters held accountable.
Sign and tell legislators to vote YES on SB 307 and again make protecting New Mexico's land, water and health a priority.
Subject: Vote YES on SB 307
Dear Legislators,
As a CVNM supporter and a New Mexican, I urge you to support SB 307 Oil & Gas Act Powers & Penalties sponsored by Senator Richard Martinez in the 2017 legislative session. SB 307 would make common sense changes to an outdated law that holds those who violate the Oil and Gas Act accountable.
Specifically, SB 307 proposes to update fines from the 1935 dollar, reinstate OCD's ability to levy fines on violators and remove the requirement that a violation be done "knowingly and willfully."
Just like in 1935, an operator can be fined $1,000 a day for an ongoing violation. In 1935, the $1,000 fine was equivalent to 2,500 barrels of oil. Today, $1,000 is roughly equivalent to 15 barrels so the penalty is so weak, it’s hardly a deterrent. It just becomes a cost of doing business for an oil and gas operator, while water or land is possibly irrevocably polluted. Also surviving from 1935 is a provision stating that a company cannot be fined unless the OCD proves a violation was committed knowingly and willfully. This standard is akin to allowing the Department of Health to assess a penalty only after it proves a restaurant with rats in its kitchen knowingly and willingly allowed rats into the establishment. SB 307 will remove this unreasonable standard in the law.
These are all common sense updates to a law that back in 2009 the Supreme Court said was "undeniably out of date." Much has changed since 1935 when the Oil and Gas Act was made law except for safeguards for our land and water. It’s time to fix this and again make protecting our land, water and health our priority. I urge you to vote YES on SB 307, which is a priority bill on CVNM’s agenda, meaning your votes could be weighted on the annual Conservation Scorecard.
[Your Comment]
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
