The Negative Impacts of Lexam

The Rocky Mountain states may have become the energy industry's favorite target, but there are over 2 million oil and gas wells in the US. As more public lands are leased for development, the oil and gas industry, using laws and loopholes to their favor, are waging a silent, domestic war against communities, promising an economic boom while assailing them one by one with toxins; air pollution, noxious odors; drinking water contamination; 24/7 noise from diesel engines; 120' drill rigs; stadium lighting; compressor stations and other equipment; relentless truck traffic; enormous stresses on local roads, social services; wildlife disruptions; accidental fires and spills of hazardous materials; and the complete alteration of the character and unique qualities of the place. Preventing these outcomes is our challenge in Crestone.

Lexam Energy Exploration,Inc., a wildcat mineral exploration company from Canada,with a 25% investment from Conco Phillips, purchased the mineral rights underlying the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and the residential community of the Baca Grande. In April 2007, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission issued Lexam two permits to drill two 14,000 ft deep exploratory wells in the Refuge. This activity, with its documented risks, counters an order issued in 2004 by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to protect the Baca National Wildlife Refuge and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, in recognition of the rare plant and animal life and rich geological and cultural history. Drilling poses detrimental damage to the marvels of the ecosystem and the health and survival of unique flora and fauna populations, putting at risk the health of local people and the local economy as well as water, our most precious resource.

Nationally we are confronting the mentality of an industry still banking their fortunes on non-renewables even as we reach the end of the fossil fuel era, a short sightedness keeping us from transitioning towards renewable fuels. And to what end? According to Los Padres Forest Watch in California: "Despite widespread access to public land in 12 Western states, in the past 15 years the oil and gas industry has produced just 53 days worth of oil and 221 days of natural gas at U.S. consumption rates. During that time, industry had access to more than 200 million acres of Western public lands, an area nearly twice the size of California."

The specific problems facing Crestone are compounded by the well documented national problems associated with gas and oil development: lack of regulation for the oil and gas industry, the need to change existing laws, insufficient environmental assessments, disregard for local citizens' needs, and poor management of public lands.

The idea of Lexam drilling in the Baca National Wildlife Refuge confounds logic. A refuge is a protected area, a sanctuary, and the Baca was determined to have "unique hydrological, educational, wildlife, recreational, and other diverse resources deserving preservation for the enjoyment of future generations." It is a biologically diverse wetland, a riparian zone, an interface between land and flowing surface water which has a significant role as a natural biofilter. Riparian zones are instrumental in determining the water quality for both surface runoff and water flowing into streams through subsurface or groundwater flow.

In The San Luis Valley, the highest, largest subalpine desert in North America, water is a precious commodity. In fact, as early as 1879 the legislature created a system of water rights. Beneath the valley floor lies a vast aquifer, the largest in the US, whose waters sustains the life of the plants, animals and communities in the valley. The aquifer here exists at the headwaters of the Rio Grande extending into New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, sustaining the ranching and farming communities with irrigation and large population centers with drinking water. At present, according to The Interbasin Compact Committee, agricultural ground water use is currently at unsustainable levels. Millions of gallons of water must be removed from the aquifer before methane will flow into the well casing resulting in a radical depletion of groundwater (do we know these two things for sure?), a serious matter in the arid southwest- and if this aquifer, with its intricate underground system, is contaminated, it puts at risk all of the entities here and to the south depending on potable water as their lifeline.

The aquifer also supports the unique plants, animals and large ecosystem of which the Great Sand Dunes and the Baca National Wildlife Refuge are intrinsically connected. These water resources support the creation and replenishment of the dunes system including more than 70 species of rare and endangered flora and fauna, some found nowhere else in the world. The refuge's proximity to the Great Sand Dunes provides a corridor for migrating waterfowl such as the sandhill and whooping cranes that migrate here each spring. Alteration and fragmentation of habitat, animal displacement, breeding and a threat to species survival would occur with the toxins, the noise, the rigs and towers the onslaught of traffic.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is required to administer this refuge according to strict criteria placing environmental protection ahead of all other considerations. They're obligated to manage ecosystems, preserve wildlife habitat, save endangered species, conserve migratory birds, and protect wildlife from environmental hazards and safeguard critical habitat for endangered species from potentially devastating threats by commercial exploitation and environmental contaminants. A recent court order is forcing the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to follow the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Comments to address these inadequacies must be made to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

At all stages of drilling there are hazards: roads, pipelines, and waste pits fragment the wildlife habitats and threaten the health of migratory birds. Both air and water pollution occur at all stages of this development. Hydraulic fracturing is dangerous because we get our drinking water from underground sources; yet, In 2005 the industry was granted an exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

In all, environmentalists say, oil and gas operations emit more than 200 hazardous compounds. Toxins released include benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, methane, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. Nitrogen oxide alone is a triple threat because it forms haze, ozone and acidic precipitation. Yet, in most states, oil and gas operations are not required to obtain air quality permits nor have emission controls. Tons of unregulated toxins will ensue if there is drilling.

There is no way to prevent contamination of either the surface water or the underground aquifer with drilling. Excess chlorides make water undrinkable. People can be exposed to benzene by drinking contaminated water, and benzene, a known cancer-causing agent, is very toxic to humans. Increased incidents of stress, asthma (particularly to children and seniors) and debilitating diseases such as cancer have been attributed to exposure to these toxic substances. Communities have a right to step in when Public Health Issues are threatened by the impacts associated with toxic oil and gas chemicals and wastes. TRAGICALLY, MOST OF THESE IMPACTS WILL OCCUR WHETHER OR NOT THEY FIND GAS!

The health and environmental impacts on all beings are potentially dire, but there are also economic and social fallouts which have been disastrous in areas such as Rifle, for example. The mayor reported the cost of resulting infrastructure for health, emergency services and roads was economically disastrous to their community. And the Industry is often not responsible for waste pits left behind, nor cleanup nor infrastructure costs. That burden falls on individual communities.

The current plan requires that Lexam upgrade approximately 10 miles of existing Baca National Wildlife Refuge roads to accommodate industrial use levels, and would require the construction of approximately 2 miles of roads through the unique and unscarred landscape of the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, alteration of habitat, habitat fragmentation and animal displacement disastrous for the rare species and their habitat even before drilling, causing disruption of the natural cycles. The irony is that heavy industrial equipment will be allowed even though the public does not have access to this sensitive area even by foot because it is such a fragile environment.

For Crestone, a quiet, spiritual community, the day and night drilling activity-the noise alone-will drive people away. Forever after it would alter the local ambience and decrease the spiritual tourism that accounts for much of its economy. Additionally, Jose Lucero, an elder of Santa Clara Pueblo, said this Valley was a place of emergence for the Tewa people, that life and spirit entered the world and left it here. Artifacts and archeological sites can still be found as testimony to 400 generations who have lived here, and part of this history would be torn up and lost if the refuge were to be drilled 14,000 feet down.

With all of these facts, it is disturbing to discover that no best management practices have been implemented to address these problems adequately. There is no comprehensive management plan for the refuge. Furthermore, the lack of a complete Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) addressing both the test drilling and full production phase, including accurate baseline measurements of air quality and noise levels, as well as water quality, is not on the table. It is essential to get these in place.

The USFWS is accepting comments on the draft environmental assessment they have conducted (a significantly less thorough study of the potential effects of the proposed drilling activities) through March 2, and they can be submitted to baca_ea@fws.gov or to San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 9383 El Rancho Lane, Alamosa, CO 81101. Whether the USFWS sticks with the environmental assessment as it stands, or moves to conduct a full EIS, depends on the arguments for more rigorous study that are posed in these comments.

We are stewards of the land - and the corporations and government must be held accountable to protect the rare ecological and archeological features of the area. An industrial gas field would impact the total local ecosystem, which includes the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the traditional farming and ranching activities that have defined this Valley for hundreds of years, and every other aspect of the environment and way of life that makes this Valley so unique in Colorado. Is it worth this much devastation of a landscape and cultural heritage for the two weeks' US consumption of natural gas that Lexam/Conoco Phillips hopes to find here?

Booms come and go as businesses seek new horizons for profit, but this industry has proven to have dangerous effects on the health of the American people and environment--and without proper regulatory oversight at all levels of government. Water and community and our way of life cannot be sacrificed to the fossil fuel era which is soon to be a short blip in time. This valley of 300 sunny days a year is already seeing promising solar developments, by companies such as Sun Edison. Hydrogen is the energy on the horizon, and a hydrogen-based economy, like all renewable energy endeavors, can exist without energy wars or health hazards. There is ample opportunity for ecologically sound businesses in the Valley that balance environmental values and human needs. We cannot let the last remnants of the fossil fuel age destroy what nature has created and preserved for a millennium.

When Governor Bill Ritter was elected in 2006, he promised that Colorado would devote its strategic resources to the development of a New Energy Economy. He has repeatedly promoted his desire to become a national leadership model in the promotion of renewable energy. The San Luis Valley is uniquely positioned to become such a model, and steps have already been taken in this direction. We hope that our local, state, and federal elected officials will work on our behalf to support our ability to move forward as a national leader in the production of post-petroleum energy sources by protecting this Valley from the detrimental, and conflicting, impacts of fossil fuel development.