Forum: Hands off Otero Mesa's water

Their reasons varied from destruction the environment will suffer, including species decline, to the importance of water and the contamination that accompanies oil and gas drilling.

A brief video presentation described Otero Mesa as one of the last and largest remaining undisturbed pieces of Chihuahuan desert grassland left.

Former Lincoln County Commissioner and hunter Rick Simpson said the mesa is "real close to the way God made it."

Simpson said people who wanted to see the mesa preserved needed to "stand up and be counted," and could do so by contacting elected officials and voicing their opposition to drilling.

"There's two kinds of people," he said. "There's one group that's not afraid to stand up and be counted. There are others who sit on their thumbs and complain to friends, but that's about as far as it goes."

Craig Roepke, a hydrologist from the Interstate Stream Commission, said there may be as much as 200,000 acre feet of water lying beneath Otero Mesa 9 water that will be extremely valuable if and when southern New Mexico expands in population. He said a study was currently under way to get a more accurate idea of the quantity and quality of water.

Wildlife expert and former mayor of Loving Steve West expressed his worry that oil and gas drilling on the mesa would cause species decline in the neighborhood of 90 percent.

"I'm very concerned about Otero Mesa," he said.

He said there are healthy colonies of prairie dogs on the mesa, among other species of animals. The black-tailed prairie dog used to stretch from southern Canada to northern Mexico, he said.

Bill Brown, a retired geologist from the United States Geological Service and son of an oilfield worker spoke in more global terms. He said the United States uses approximately a quarter of the world's natural gas, but North America has about four percent of the world's proven reserves.

Paraphrasing Winston Churchill, he said the world is entering an "age of consequences" because of its fossil fuel consumption.

"The United States is in no position now or ever to drill its way to energy independence," he said.

Brown said a large percentage of all energy used in this country is wasted. "That's a conservative estimate," he said.

Companies are not worried about whether it is wasted but more with making a profit, he said. The gas is wasted at power plants and at residences because of poor construction.

He said the United states uses approximately 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year and between 10 and 12 trillion are wasted.

"That makes no sense," he said.

He said the amount of natural gas lying beneath Otero Mesa is trivial. The value of the water under the mesa far exceeds it.

Brown said the country's dependence on foreign energy sources has become too costly in terms of being at the mercy of foreign powers. Change can happen; it just takes the political will to do so, he said.

Tweeti Blancett, a rancher from San Juan County, spoke about the destruction that has been wrought on her ranch by oil and gas drilling.

She said there are 600 wells and more than 1,000 miles of roads traversing her family's property. She said large amounts of toxins, including heavy metals, have poisoned her land and she can no longer keep the livestock there.

She cautioned Otero County against letting oil and gas companies drill on Otero Mesa, lest it suffer the same fate. She claimed oil companies have falsified water samples, saying they were not contaminated after her people took samples from the same watering holes and found them to be highly toxic.

She admitted that Americans use oil and it is a necessity, "but at what price?"

She said state representatives need to start heeding their constituents or be replaced.

"Our representatives are not listening to us," she said.