http://www.ecowatch.com/massive-fracking-explosion-in-new-mexico-1919567359.html
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Jul 13, 2016
Massive Fracking Explosion in New Mexico, 36 Oil Tanks Catch Fire
Lorraine Chow
This week—as thousands of Americans urge awareness to the destruction
caused by oil bomb trains—an oil field in San Juan County, New Mexico
erupted in flames Monday night, highlighting the continued and
increasing dangers of the fossil fuel industry.
The fire broke out around 10:15 p.m. Monday at a fracking site owned and
operated by WPX Energy, setting off several explosions and temporarily
closing the nearby Highway 550. Fifty-five local residents were forced
out of their homes.
The site—located in the Mancos shale deposit area and known as the 550
Corridor and a part of Greater Chaco Canyon—contains six new oil wells
and 30 temporary oil storage tanks holding either oil or produced water.
All 36 storage tanks caught fire and burned, the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based
energy company said.
The site was still smoldering last night and, now, "only 7 of 36 tanks
at production site on fire this morning," the company tweeted.
"The fire is being allowed to burn itself out due to the intensity of
the heat, the number of oil tanks involved and to contain petroleum
fluids on WPX's five-acre site, predominantly in the storage tankage,"
WPX said.
According to Albuquerque news station KOAT, WPX stopped drilling for
natural gas and oil in the area last May. The company had been producing
for about a week before the fire broke out.
The cause of the fire is currently unclear. "We think that in the next
couple of weeks to months, we will have that information and will be
able to share that with the public," WPX San Juan Asset Team manager,
Heather Riley, told the news station.
There were no reported injuries or damage to nearby property. Most of
the evacuees have returned home but 10 families are still lodged in a
hotel, The Farmington Daily Times reported.
Environmental advocates are speaking out about the explosion.
"The site that exploded is a brand new facility that consists of six
wells drilled to shale formations that have never been adequately
analyzed for impacts and safety concerns." Mike Eisenfeld, the Energy
and Climate Program manager at the San Juan Citizens Alliance, told
EcoWatch in an email.
WPX was given approval to develop the site from the New Mexico Oil
Conservation Division in September. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) Farmington Field Office gave final approval to drill the land in
December.
"In a leap before looking scenario, the federal Bureau of Land
Management in Farmington, New Mexico has allowed WPX to proceed with
these shale facilities discounting the inherent danger that has now
become clear with the explosion," Eisenfeld said.
"This highlights the failure to have adequate safeguards in place to
protect local communities and also raises serious questions about
chemicals and toxicity associated with the explosion. Emergency response
for this explosion was hours away. A thorough investigation is
necessary. There should be a moratorium on these new wells until BLM
completes a legally proficient Resource Management Plan
Amendment/Environmental Impact Statement for the Mancos Shale/Gallup
formations."
The New Mexico environmental non-profit WildEarth Guardians noted in a
statement to EcoWatch that the BLM Farmington Field Office has leased
more than 90 percent of the lands it oversees to oil and gas companies
and plans to auction off additional acres for fracking during the
January 2017 lease sale. The office manages a total of 1.8 million acres
of public land.
"Enough is enough," Kendra Pinto, Counselor Chapter outreach intern,
said. "It seems like every month we see more wells here, and things are
going to get worse if the drilling doesn't stop. At this rate, what will
be left here for our children? The land has changed."
WPX Energy has invested millions to drill into the tight shale
formations in the San Juan Basin. The company has put in at least $160
million in developing oil plays in 2014 on its 60,000 leased acres, the
Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
The rise of hydraulic fracturing has aided a U.S. energy boom but the
environmental impact of the technology is under intense dispute, from
polluting drinking water to earthquakes. Last year, WPX Energy itself
came under scrutiny for failing to disclose how it is managing its
impacts on communities and the local environment with its fracking
operations.
"WPX Energy scored near the bottom of the industry in a recent scorecard
report published by investors benchmarking 35 companies on their
disclosed efforts to mitigate key impacts, and has faced controversy in
the past over allegations that it irreparably contaminated local
drinking water in Pennsylvania," the advisory firm Green Century Funds
wrote.
WPX Energy has defended its operations and even helped produce a glossy
26-minute documentary, Down Deep, as a way of "spreading the message
that fracking is safe and necessary for the U.S. energy future," Tulsa
World wrote of the film.
Still, as WildEarth Guardians pointed out, the recent oil field
explosion in San Juan serves as a sobering reminder of the urgent need
to build safe, clean renewable energy in place of fossil fuels.
"I know people want jobs," Samuel Sage, Wildlife Guardians Counselor
Chapter community services coordinator, said. "But why must they come at
the expense of our air, water, and climate? Many other places are
building clean energy generation and creating well-paying jobs in the
process. That is our future, not this dirty industry."
"Unfortunately, this may be the tip of the iceberg," Rebecca Sobel,
senior climate and energy campaigner at WildEarth Guardians, said. "The
Obama Administration has already leased more than 10 million acres of
public land to oil and gas drilling, and BLM continues to lease more
land in New Mexico to fracking interests without studying these impacts.
How many more explosions and evacuations will it take before we
seriously consider the cost of these dirty fossil fuel industries and
simply end this leasing program?"
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