Most of New Mexico’s oil-related water contamination in area around Chaco, advocate tells lawmakers

Melissa Troutman, a climate and health advocate with WildEarth Guardians, spoke before legislators on the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee in Los Alamos. In a presentation, she said that the oil and gas industry reported spills that impacted 15 waterways across the state in 2025. The vast majority of them — 12 — were in San Juan County, which includes Farmington, the Four Corners region and Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

“This is where the majority of water contamination from oil and gas spills is happening in New Mexico, in the place where many rural residents already struggle with access to fresh drinking water,” Troutman told the committee.

The Bureau of Land Management last month opened a two-week window for members of the public to weigh in on its proposal to eliminate or shrink the 10-mile buffer zone that protects Chaco from mining operations.

Native leaders in New Mexico and every member of the state’s federal delegation have sharply criticized the proposal.

New Mexicans protest outside BLM office over proposal to undo Chaco Canyon mining protections

Troutman told lawmakers that produced water — a term that refers to wastewater left over from fracking operations — is the most common liquid spilled by oil and gas operators and that public lands, in particular, are the most affected.

Lea, Eddy, Chaves, San Juan and Rio Arriba counties are the most-polluted in the state, she said, before recommending several legislative solutions, including aggressively enforcing civil penalties and focusing on stopping pollution at the source rather than mitigating it.

“Put down the mop and turn down the tap,” Troutman said. “We’re leaving the tap wide open and we’re relying on more and more mops to help clean up the pollution that’s ongoing.”

How to handle produced water in New Mexico is currently up for debate. The state Water Quality Control Commission earlier this year voted to restart the lengthy rule-making process on whether and how to use the water, which often contains radioactive material and other proprietary chemicals used by oil and gas operators. Officials recently said they hope to begin those hearings in 2027.