The Strategic Water Supply Act (HB 137) was proposed to solve the oil and gas industry's enormous waste problem by expanding on toxic fracking waste reuse, aka produced water, experimentation outside of the oil field for the eventual goal of reuse for "agriculture, irrigation, potable water supplies, aquifer recharge, industrial processes or environmental restoration.” We are calling on the Governor, the Bill Sponsor Rep. Susan Herrera and our representatives to prohibit produced water reuse because it fails to safeguard our land, water and health.

In 2022, the oil and gas industry consumed 86,747 acre feet of fresh water and produced 266,160 acre feet of toxic fracking waste. This amount would fill 131,270 Olympic size swimming pools. Under current law, oil and gas operators have two choices for disposal - reuse the produced “water” in drilling operations or inject the waste back underground into injection wells. The problem - those injection wells are causing earthquakes - 2,404 quakes in 2022. Because New Mexico has never been earthquake prone, our homes and infrastructure cannot withstand those quakes.

The oil and gas industry in New Mexico now faces a costly crisis with no immediate solution. Treatment of produced water for reuse may be scientifically possible at some unknown scale and at some unknown cost, but testimony from scientists at the recent Water Quality Control Commission reuse hearing confirms that treatment processes have not yet been proved safe at the scale proposed. This bill puts the cart before the horse, subsidizing reuse projects across the state to comply with scientific standards that do not yet exist. Without standards that specify measures of toxicity and radiation at input and output, the bill does not ensure the safety of the public.

Just 14% of chemicals in fracking waste have been adequately studied for human health impacts. Among these known chemical compounds, produced water can contain PFAS, bromide, arsenic, mercury, barium, radioactive isotopes and organics like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes. Exposure to these toxic and radioactive substances is correlated with increased risks of cancer, birth defects, and early death. Even after treatment these substances can remain, accumulating in soil, livestock and humans over time.

We are demanding that our legislature prohibit the discharge, disposal or reuse of treated or untreated produced water outside the oil field, without exception. Join us in protecting our water by calling on the Governor, the bill sponsor and the NM legislature to prohibit the reuse of produced water until science has proven its safety.