Posted on 11/10/2014 5:26:09 PM PST by CedarDave
The San Miguel County Commission on Wednesday will vote on whether to adopt an oil and gas drilling ordinance that imposes some of the strictest requirements on hydrocarbon exploration in the country.
The Commission meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. at the County Commission chambers, on the second floor of the old courthouse building. ...
Commissioners held a four-hour hearing on the proposed ordinance and Comprehensive Plan changes last Monday, taking public comment from more than three dozen people.
Among those present at last Monday’s hearing was Robert Freilich, the Los Angeles planning and zoning attorney hired by the county to develop the ordinance.
Freilich, who is regarded as one of the nation’s leading experts on land use law, told the crowd that he has crafted an ordinance that imposes incredible standards, protects the county and can stand up to legal scrutiny should the oil and gas industry attempt to take the county to court.
The oil and gas industry has expressed interest in the southeastern portion of San Miguel County, specifically the Trementina sub-basin of the Tucumcari basin.
The proposed ordinance restricts any oil and gas exploration to the sparsely populated eastern part of the county.
Freilich made it clear that San Miguel County’s [2010 drilling] moratorium has already been in force too long and that continuing it would place the county at risk of being sued. He added that both he and County Attorney Jesus Lopez have researched whether an outright ban would be permissible under New Mexico law, and both have concluded that it is not.
But Freilich added that given the ordinance being imposed, he doubts that oil and gas developers will be flocking to San Miguel County.
(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegasoptic.com ...
Below is a typical comment by a person who no doubt is quite upset by drilling and fracking horror scenarios put out by the Santa Fe and/or national radical environmental community:
[Name omitted] of Ribera, said she felt Freilich’s heart was in the right place. But she said he’s not going to be here if something goes wrong and the water ends up poisoned.
“All I can do is speak from my heart about how scared I am…,” she said. “Our lives are on the line.”
The first county to completely ban drilling was Mora county. Santa Fe county adopted an ordinance several years ago but this one goes far beyond that one. Of course this area of the state is the poorest with little business except tourism and most on government assistance.
NM list PING!
I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics
To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords
To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
how about the san juan basin?
The San Miguel County Commission on Wednesday will vote on whether to adopt an oil and gas drilling ordinance that imposes some of the strictest requirements on hydrocarbon exploration in the country.
Any insight or ideas on how they will vote?
From the article:
They [environmentalists] don’t wish to shut industry down but encourage better planning.
Yeah, right, and I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
No insight, but I’d bet a bushel of green chile that they’ll vote to approve it and congratulate themselves on stopping demon oil.
That's easy. It may be expensive, depending on where you are.
/johnny
Gotta keep the losers on government assistance plantation and demoralize them.
Talk about 3rd world meets 1st world.
I lived there for a while. Twice, actually.
Trinity Site wasn't large enough by several hundred megatons.
/johnny
Why would they need firewood? I know they have mountains but sheesh, isn’t it the desert?
I’d say you win the bushel of green chili. Roasted, even.
They have to stay warm.
They just get stamps for it, and not fracked gas, but firewood.
Guess who makes money at that. Not the liberal gibsmedats that won't gather firewood.
Someone else. NM is stuck in the mid 1800s. That's why I went there to do my mountain man thing.
/johnny
I did get a lot of cooking info up there in the mountains, from people that didn't speak English or some form of Spanish. Or wouldn't admit to either....
/johnny
From the first time I heard about Mora county banning drilling, I just thought how ridiculous is that? People need jobs, these are good jobs that pay well and banning drilling is just crazy. How many areas of this country drill all the time and we don’t hear anything like what we’re hearing in these scare tactic stories.
There are parts of the state with ski resorts. Desert yes, but high desert, meaning many areas are a mile high and it gets cold. Even Albuquerque gets some snow every winter. Not a lot, just a few inches, but we get it. 4 or 5 years ago there was a terrible cold snap and it got to about -15 in Albuquerque and worse in other areas of the state. That’s rare, but it happens.
In the same counties that oppose O&G development a good percentage of homes are heated by or heating is supplemented by firewood.
About 21% percent of New Mexico is considered forest land and 62% of that is under state or federal management.
New Mexico's Forest Resources, 2000
Signs on poles in the east mountains advertise chimney sweeps!
I had a white Christmas in Hobbs, NM in 2012... and the fracking boom in Lea County was well underway. There was one spot down south in Winkler county Texas where standing in one spot I counted 12 rigs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.