Analysis of the Alleged Protections for Otero Mesa

No real limits on oil & gas development

Based on an analysis of the recent Otero Mesa Record of Decision, here are the facts behind the Bureau of Land Management's claims regarding surface disturbance, well limits, and grassland disturbance.

• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contends that their 5% surface disturbance plan will allow for environmentally sound oil and gas development on Otero Mesa. In reality, the 5% plan developed by the BLM only applies to 105,000 acres, leaving the remaining 1.1 million acres of the Otero Mesa area open to standard drilling practices, with few regulations.

• The BLM contends that the grasslands of Otero Mesa will not be significantly impacted if surface disturbance is limited to 5% of any given lease area. In reality, the actual scraped earth resulting from road, well pad and pipeline construction does not reflect the true area that is “disturbed.” These activities fragment the landscape and invite a host of problems associated with erosion, introduction of exotic plant species, and recreational road use.

• There is no clear limit of “5% disturbance” on the grasslands. Nor does the plan provide any detail as to how the “5% disturbance” in the grasslands will be applied. This means that a “spider web” of development activities (and the resulting habitat fragmentation) could still occur.

• The plan opens 95% of the entire planning area, including Otero Mesa and the Nutt grasslands, to oil and gas leasing. This figure is not affected by the purported limits and permits adjustments of these limits. In the plan over 69% of the lands (or 1,406,625 acres) remain open to leasing without any conditions on surface use or protective stipulations.

• There remains no way to protect the crucial groundwater beneath Otero Mesa. Despite the fact that it remains the largest remaining source of fresh drinking water in the state, a few days of oil or gas is still considered the more important resource.

• The BLM will not rely on on-site inspections to monitor drilling activities. Instead they plan on using Otero Mesa as a pilot program for satellites to monitor activities from space, even though such technology has never been proven.

• The BLM will not consider geophysical/seismic activities to be “surface disturbing” even though they include the use of heavy trucks and blasting.