Toxic Health Impacts from Fracking in New Mexico
By Mark LeClaire
On January 21th all hell broke loose in Carlsbad when a produced water pipe split, spewing a toxic contaminants slurry of unknown toxins on a nearby home. The residents ran outside at 2:30 am to save their livestock and were saturated. Despite their frantic calls, no one showed up until 5 AM, and before any state inspection could occur industry workers dug up the pipe and hauled away contaminated soil in an attempt to cover up the crime scene. WPX has tried to whitewash the incident, stating they cleaned the home and adjacent property even as they destroyed evidence.
Seven fracking wells surround the home. The nearest one is only 300 ft. from the residence, and the produced water gathering lines are a mere 100 ft. from the front door. A spate of recent peer-reviewed studies reveal that produced water contaminants include radium, benzene, arsenic, and heavy metals. Texas-based researcher Zac Hildenbrand calls it "one of the most complex mixtures on the planet." A Pennsylvania study has shown significant radioactivity. Disturbingly, raw brine water test results from Sandoval County NM revealed the presence of radium 226 and 228. Radioactivity and other toxic chemicals are being spread throughout the state with no oversight because of industry exemptions, putting public health at risk and leaving our environment forever changed. Radium has a half-life of 1600 years. People in Carlsbad routinely witness fracking wastewater trucks spilling contaminated water on roadways accumulating toxins.
Radium, typically the most abundant radionuclide in brine, is often measured in picocuries per liter of substance and is so dangerous it’s subject to tight restrictions even at hazardous-waste sites. The most common isotopes are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires industrial discharges to remain below 60 for each. Four of Peter’s samples registered combined radium levels above 3,500, and one was more than 8,500.
“Breathing in this stuff and ingesting it are the worst types of exposure,” Stolz continues. “You are irradiating your tissues from the inside out.” The radioactive particles fired off by radium can be blocked by the skin, but radium readily attaches to dust, making it easy to accidentally inhale or ingest. Once inside the body, its insidious effects accumulate with each exposure. It is known as a “bone seeker” because it can be incorporated into the skeleton and cause bone cancers called sarcomas. It also decays into a series of other radioactive elements, called “daughters.” The first one for radium-226 is radon, a radioactive gas and the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. Radon has also been linked to chronic lymphocytic leukemia. “Every exposure results in an increased risk,” says Ian Fairlie, a British radiation biologist. “Think of it like these guys have been given negative lottery tickets, and somewhere down the line their number will come up and they will die.”
There are no established guidelines or public health clinics for New Mexicans exposed to produced and or chemical air or water. The Carlsbad residents sought treatment at the local ER after suffering from persistent headaches. They were treated for symptoms, yet doctors denied the necessary testing to document exposures. On Friday, Jan 24, the mother broke into a rash on her face and neck and went for a second opinion to the ER in Artesia. Again, she was treated, yet no tests to determine her levels of exposure were conducted. Is this providing our families with adequate care after a spill? A full two days passed before anyone from the relevant state agencies showed up. No tests of the contaminated soil or pipelines on the site have been conducted. Without tests, the family has no data on what was in this produced "fracking waste" water and the possible long term effects on their health, livestock, and land. The family was told by WPX that the yard was unsafe for their animals and that they would need to be housed in a shelter. However, the family is currently still living in their house, walking through the yard.
This entire episode was horrendous but not unique. In 2016, 55 Navajo households were left on the side of the road when another WPX frack pad exploded in Nageezi, NM. Who approved this? Ken McQueen, director of EMNRD OCD - and former CEO of WPX. WPX has a record as a bad actor yet has not received one penalty. The people of New Mexico can point to every corner of the state and show how there is no regulatory enforcement or penalty capability on industry, whether it is in the basins, Clovis, Carlsbad, Socorro or Albuquerque. This has got to change. Does NM need to have a citizens suit brought against them to act?
It is the constitutional duty of legislators to care for the health of our people. In light of yet another fracking contamination in our state and the public health emergency due radium and toxic chemical exposures, we encourage you to pass Senate Bill 104 for a fracking moratorium to allow 10 state agencies to report and study the impacts of hydraulic fracking so that we can formulate a statutory plan to regulate this industry and protect our families.
Please call or email Governor Lujan Grishamand Legislators
Demand the Governor put the Fracking Moratorium Bill (SB 104) on the call for this session so it can be heard in committee.
New Mexico's short 30-day legislative session has begun. We all need to work together to support frontline and Indigenous communities affected by fracking, as well as supporting the youth's call from immediate action on the climate crisis. It is important to send these letters and make the calls to show the governor and legislators public support for a moratorium on fracking in New Mexico. We will continue a campaign throughout the year until a moratorium is passed.
Please call Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, (505) 476-2200 or email the Governor today! State that you support the fracking bill SB 104.
Ask the Governor to Declare a Climate Emergency
Ask her to add the Fracking Legislation (SB 104) to the Governor's Call.
Let her know why this legislation is important to you.
Remind her of the benefits of this bill
Bring this recent event to the attention of our lawmakers. The January 21th explosion of a "produced water" line - just 100 feet from a family residence in Carlsbad - illuminates the serious gaps in a broken regulatory system that are putting the health and safety of all New Mexicans at risk. The disposal of so-called "produced water"- in reality, the fracking industry's toxic waste - is creating a public health emergency of unprecedented scope across America. In 2018, more than 42 billion gallons of produced water were created in NM's Permian Basin alone. Please take the time to read this letter, follow the links, and send it on to our elected officials. We can be silent no longer.
Read SB 104 for yourself. SB 104 is sponsored by Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Dist. 16) and Senator Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Dist. 13). We need this bill to address health studies, health protections and safety Issues from fracking in New Mexico.