Dear Friend, The outcome was not at all certain as water advocates and public health protectors filed into the WQCC meeting yesterday, where Commissioners would decide the outcome of three formal motions to disqualify Commissioners and vacate a prior decision to allow a hearing on a WATR Alliance fracking waste discharge petition. Despite an extraordinary scene in which the people defied the Chair's surprise announcement that public comment on the fracking waste issue would not be heard, and pressure from Security Guards to remain silent, the WQCC ultimately listened to the people and to the law and voted to vacate their July 8th decision to advance the WATR Alliance petition — a proposal that could have opened the door to discharging toxic fracking waste across New Mexico. The motions submitted by New Energy Economy, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Environmental Law Center and allied environmental advocates documented internal emails showing that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office and Environment Secretary James Kenney coordinated behind closed doors to predetermine Commission votes before the July 8th meeting. This coordination violates state law, constitutional due process, and the Commission’s own rules requiring impartiality and independence. These communications reveal that the Governor’s staff held secret strategy “huddles” with Cabinet Secretaries, directing them to occupy their Commission seats, to support the WATR petition, and to “get it over the finish line.” Officials were urged to move the hearing away from Santa Fe in violation of long-established Commission practice. This was not neutral deliberation — it was political choreography designed to benefit the oil and gas industry. Yesterday, the Commission took the necessary step of vacating that tainted vote. This was a huge victory for the people and the earth. The WATR Alliance petition was defective on its face and unsupported by science, and therefore unlawful. The July 8 vote was not the act of a neutral Commission — it was the product of bias, undue influence from the Governor's office, and a predetermined outcome. Vacating the July vote and dismissing the petition were the only ways to restore the Commission’s integrity, comply with the Constitution, and honor the trust that New Mexicans place in it to safeguard our most vital resource — water. And it was because the people stood up, spoke out, and the press amplified their voices that we won. Commissioner Brancard made the Motion to Vacate, saying not only that the petition itself was flawed because it had not been developed in consultation with NMED, the very agency that would be required to implement any rule, but also that the prior vote to allow the petition a hearing was tainted in the public eye. And he emphasized that scientists and industry still do not know what is in the oil and gas waste that they want to discharge, a glaring gap in knowledge that cannot be ignored. He referred to industry's refusal to disclose whats in the fracking fluid as "the elephant in the room." Commissioner Bayliss seconded the Motion. He was also the Commissioner that stood up for the public's right to speak. The motion passed on a 7-4 vote, with one abstention. The WQCC determined that their decision to vacate the July 8th vote made a vote on disqualification of tainted Commissioners moot. In the words of one Rio Arriba resident: "I can remember a time in my life when I still drank from the acequia, when we still allowed our animals to drink. The ideal of keeping that water clean was instilled in me as a little kid.The only question I have for you today is how much poison in the water is ok? Just a little bit? Are we going to be able to drink from the acequia again at some point?" Agua es Vida! We can't rest because we know the Governor and oil and gas are going to keep bringing this back over and over again until either they get what they want or their industry collapses under the weight of its obsolescence. But today we can celebrate. Yesterday New Mexicans made themselves heard — and the Water Quality Control Commission listened. Thank you for speaking out for our water, our land and our health. |
