Farmington residents urge increased attention, oversight of oil and gas wells in San Juan Basin | News | abqjournal.com

TOP: Environmentalist Don Schreiber talks next to an abandoned pump jack during a tour of the Horseshoe Gallup oil field

west of Farmingtion on Wednesday, April 17.

Part four of a four-part series on abandoned oil and gas wells in New Mexico.

SAN JUAN BASIN — “This landscape is like china. Once you break that china plate, you can’t put it back together.”

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Will Barnes, deputy director of the surface resources division at the New Mexico State Land Office, looks at a tank of oil spilling onto the desert in Lea County earlier this month.

Chris Graeser, assistant general counsel at the New Mexico State Land Office, looks at a tank of oil spilling onto the desert in Lea County on May 8. The State Land Office is working through the courts to get companies to clean up abandoned sites like this.

Tote tanks filled with unknown liquid sit next to a group of large oil tanks in an abandoned oil and gas facility in the Horseshoe Gallup oil field west of Farmington on Wednesday, April 17.

A part of a pipe sits in a pool of oil at an abandoned oil and gas site in Lea County.

Liquids like oil seep into the ground from a produced water tank on an active well site in Lea County.

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An animal built a nest on a catwalk at an abandoned well site in Lea County, made of trees but also wire and other materials found around the unused, old site.

The Eunice Cemetery is nestled among oil wells north of the town.

Oil leaks from an active well in Lea County.

David Fosdeck points out a crack in a tote tank filled with unknown liquid in an abandoned oil facility in the Horseshoe Gallup oil field.

A hazard sign in the Diné language is posted on an abandoned pump jack in the Horseshoe Gallup oil field on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

An abandoned valve manifold presumed to containing waste oil and contaminated water located in the Horseshoe Gallup oil field on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Bullet casings are scattered on the ground in the area.

A condensate tank, used to hold liquids like produced water, located on the Horseshoe Gallup oilfield. The darker dirt around the tank may indicate soil contamination.

Flow pipes across a site where a salt water disposal well was used in Lea County, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Flow pipes snake around an abandoned oil and gas site in Lea County on May 8. The operator should have removed materials like this when they stopped using the site and restored the land back to its natural state.

Old cans and litter around an oil well near Eunice.

Flow pipes snake around an abandoned oil and gas well site in Lea County. The site's been left like that for at least seven years.

Birds built a nest in a meter box where a saltwater disposal well was used, similar to other signs around the Permian Basin of animals attempting to adapt to the infrastructure oil and gas companies left behind.

A plugged well west of Farmington on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Flow pipes from an abandoned oil and gas well site inHorseshoe Gallup oilfield west of Farmington is pictured on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Oil seeps in to the soil from an abandoned oil storage site in the Horseshoe Gallup oilfield west of Farmington is pictured on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

Becky Griffin, a remediation specialist for the New Mexico State Land office, reads the writing on a metal pole that marks a plugged well once used for disposing of produced water, a liquid byproduct of oil and gas production, in Lea County, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Mark Veteto, owner of Me-Tex, an oil and gas company based in Hobbs.

TOP: Environmentalist Don Schreiber talks next to an abandoned pump jack during a tour of the Horseshoe Gallup oil field

west of Farmingtion on Wednesday, April 17.

Ari Biernoff, general counsel for the New Mexico State Land Office, looks at an oil well that is leaking oil, gas and produced water in Lea County. The State Land Office is looking into all of the company’s wells now.

Deon David, a remediation specialist for the New Mexico State Land Office, walks across a site where operators plugged an oil well correctly and attempted to restore the land around it, in Lea County. Photo shot Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Deon David, a remediation specialist for the New Mexico State Land Office, investigates a leaking oil well in Lea County on May 8. The State Land Office just found the messy site that day.

From left, Becky Griffin and Deon David, remediation specialists for the New Mexico State Land Office, talk on May 8 with Ari Biernoff, general counsel, and Will Barnes, deputy director of the surface resources division, on a site they thought was fully restored. The experts thought it may need more work.

Ari Biernoff, general counsel for the New Mexico State Land Office, and Becky Griffin, a remediation specialist for the land office, discuss options for getting the responsible company to clean up its messy well site.

Albuquerque Journal reporter Megan Gleason explores an abandoned oil well near Hobbs.

Albuquerque Journal reporter Megan Gleason taking a close look at a pump jack near Eunice, Tuesday May 7, 2024

Albuquerque Journal reporter Megan Gleason taking a close look at a abandoned oil well near Hobbs, Tuesday May 7, 2024

Officials with the New Mexico State Land Office get a close look at tank batteries at an active well site that’s leaking oil and produced water onto the ground and natural gas into the air.

Don Schreiber leaves his truck to approach an abandoned pump jack located in the Horseshoe Gallup oil field.

Joey Keefe, New Mexico State Land Office spokesperson, left, and Will Barnes, deputy director of the surface resources division at the New Mexico State Land Office, look at oil that’s spilled over from a storage tank. Wind likely blew it over the top of the full storage container, and even more oil could be stored in the three massive tank batteries on the right.

Joey Keefe, New Mexico State Land Office spokesperson, left, and Richard Moore, associate counsel at the State Land Office, look at a tank of oil spilling onto the desert in Lea County. The brown-colored ground around the tank is contaminated dirt, causing a concern for groundwater sources.

Workers carry loads of contaminated dirt and other waste from oil well sites to be stored at R360, between Hobbs and Carlsbad, Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Workers carry loads of contaminated dirt and other waste from oil well sites to be stored at R360, between Hobbs and Carlsbad, Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Pump jacks pump oil at a site north of Eunice on May 7.

Oil and gas wells southeast of Artesia, Tuesday, May 7, 2024.

Oil and gas wells southeast of Artesia.

Abandoned oil and gas wells have been sitting untouched for years in New Mexico while the state attempts to track down the producers responsible. The rusty tank batteries, oil spills and produced water can act as hazards to the environment.

A metal pole marks a plugged oil well in Lea County. Grass is sprouting sporadically around the site but not directly around the plugged well. Photo shot Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Produced water, wastewater that is a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, pours from a tank onto the ground in Lea County. Untreated produced water contains toxic substances that are harmful for the environment and to human health.

Workers carry loads of contaminated dirt and other waste from oil well sites to be stored at R360, between Hobbs and Carlsbad, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

An oil well being drilled in Lea County May 8.

Cattle graze near Eunice May 7.

Pump jacks pump oil on land north of Eunice.

Cattle graze around an oil well near Eunice, Tuesday, May 7, 2024.

Oil and gas wells operate and flare in New Mexico’s Lea County on May 8.

Megan Gleason is a reporter on the business desk for the Albuquerque Journal. She covers energy, utilities and government.

The series

Sunday: Hundreds of abandoned oil and gas wells are scattered around New Mexico, particularly in the southeast and northwest parts of the state, many posing threats to the environment and groundwater. However, the booming oil industry stays strong in New Mexico.

Monday: The New Mexico State Land Office has a cleanup program that urges oil and gas operators to plug inactive wells and restore land they left behind. If that doesn’t work, it’s up to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to clean up the site.

Tuesday: Players in New Mexico’s oil and gas industry feel overregulated and mischaracterized while their products and work majorly fuels the state’s General Fund and economy.

Today: Northwestern New Mexico residents call attention to abandoned oil and gas wells in the San Juan Basin, which has lost some of its notoriety to the booming Permian Basin. The checkerboard area also has wells on tribal land, and multiple jurisdictions can make well cleanup complex.

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