NEWS
Legal battle to protect Otero Mesa pays off
Responsible energy development will have another chance at Otero Mesa. The state of New Mexico’s recommendations to protect core habitat and groundwater were ignored by the Bureau of Land Management under the Bush administration, and plans were made to drill. Thanks to an important federal court ruling, the BLM will now be sent back to the drawing board, giving us another chance to move forward a more responsible plan for oil and gas drilling in the area.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in late April ruled that the BLM failed to follow national environmental law in its plan to develop oil and natural gas on Otero Mesa and that it must at least consider the idea of no drilling in the area in southern New Mexico. The court said BLM did not consider alternatives to surface drilling that would protect the fragile habitat and water resources of Otero Mesa, and that the agency didn’t adequately analyze the likely impacts of the plan it proposed to permit gas and oil development. NMWF was one of several groups that joined the state to protest the Otero Mesa plan in 2005.
Unless BLM appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and wins, the decision essentially means the agency must go back to the drawing boards before it can proceed with oil and gas development on the 1.6 million-acre Otero Mesa. Attorney General Gary King said in a statement that BLM will likely have to complete an environmental impact statement on the entire Otero Mesa management plan, consider closing Otero Mesa to development and conduct further analysis before leasing can be done.