Governor wants to protect New Mexicans from dangerous “forever chemicals” – but will she include the ones in oil and gas waste as well April 21, 2023

WildEarth Guardians

In 2021, the governor petitioned the U.S. EPA to list toxic PFAS as “hazardous” under hazardous waste law – the same one the oil and gas industry is exempt from at both federal and state levels.

Now, thanks to a new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility, Fracking with “Forever Chemicals” in New Mexico, we know that the oil and gas industry has used PFAS chemicals in hundreds, perhaps thousands of wells across the state. Considering just one tablespoon could contaminate a water body twice the size of New Mexico’s largest lake (or 1.75 trillion gallons of water), it’s critical that these chemicals be closely monitored and managed from cradle to grave.