Defend NM water is a grassroots campaign to defend our water from oil and gas waste contamination.

Fracking produces four times more toxic waste than actual oil & gas, and they are running out of room to put it all. We are committed to showing up to defend New Mexico people, land, water and wildlife from becoming a new dumping ground to solve the fossil fuel industry's costly waste problem.

40B1FCF3-7A32-4532-82D8-D372D684163B 3.jpg

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS:

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

EB8F8CD8-FB2E-4750-BAFA-4BF40CC6CE8E (1)

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

and by:

South Valley Partners for Environmental Justice, Reunity Resources, and We Are One River

WHY IS OUR WATER UNDER ATTACK?

According to Laura Capper, oil and gas industry consultant, “New Mexico needs to find new uses [for produced water] quickly or risk oil production itself.” - Current Argus, July 12, 2023

Screen Shot 2024-04-27 at 4.32.18 PM.jpg

Oil and gas industry representatives and their allies in business and government are trying to scare New Mexicans by arguing that we need to reuse liquid fracking waste because climate change is going to reduce our water supply by 25%. (Ironic coming from them right!!?) But in fact New Mexico leaders have failed to authorize, fund or implement the water saving reforms and policies that an official New Mexico Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force recommended in 2022.

The real reason for the headlong rush to approve fracking waste reuse? Earthquakes. More than 2,404 in 2022.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF FRACKING WASTE REUSE?

KNOWN TOXICITY AND HARMS TO HUMAN HEALTH

Among numerous hazardous compounds, produced water can contain PFAS, bromide, arsenic, mercury, barium, radioactive isotopes and organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes. Exposure to these toxic and radioactive substances has been correlated with increased risks of cancer, birth defects, and early death, and the evidence keeps coming. Read More >>

RADIOACTIVITY EXPOSES WORKERS AND ACCUMULATES IN SOIL, PLANTS & LIVESTOCK

One of the most dangerous radionuclides found in “produced water” is radium, which mimics calcium in the body, causing it to be absorbed into our bones. A 2022 study showed that radium levels in fracking waste from the Permian range from around 800 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) to more than 1500 pCi/L. The EPA has a specific level of radium at which they define a liquid waste stream as “radioactive waste" - 60 pCi/L. Read More >>

UNKNOWN RISKS. ONLY 14% OF FRACKING CHEMICALS HAVE BEEN ADEQUATELY STUDIED

Oil and gas extraction operations bring to the surface 900 billion gallons of liquid waste every year. In a comprehensive literature review, researchers identified 1,198 chemicals as detected in oil and gas wastewater, of which 86 percent lack toxicity data sufficient to complete a risk assessment.