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Tecton Energy LLC’s proposed oil drilling in the fragile ecosystem of the Galisteo Basin, southeast of Santa Fe drew fierce opposition from area residents who think that oil field development would damage water resources, create noise, disrupt traditional lifestyles, create visual pollution and threaten archeological finds.
The NM Oil Conservation District web site indicates that as of 2005, there were some 4,500 spillage events, and nearly 800 of those “are known to have groundwater that has been contaminated from leaks, spills, and releases of oil field wastes or products.” A massive sinkhole created by a collapsed brine well used in oil drilling near Artesia instigated a state review of drilling rules last year, and sparked fears on the part of some Galisteo-area residents of oil-laced brine water leaching into the aquifer and domestic water wells.
Tecton acquired rights to drill on at least 100,000 acres in the water-short Galisteo Basin. Most of the rights were acquired from private owners of subsurface mineral rights. Several wells were drilled in the basin in the 1980s but the oil in the rock did not easily yield crude. When oil prices collapsed in 1985, interest in the area evaporated. New technology uses hydrology to release oil and gas from “unconventional” oil and gas traps. An existing well that Tecton has re-entered in the Basin is reportedly now producing commercial quantities of oil.
The SF County commission and Gov. Bill Richardson imposed a yearlong moratorium. Richardson said he wants to block drilling until the impact of oil development can be more fully assessed and regulations are updated.
 
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The Oil Conservation Division currently does not have rules regarding setbacks of drilling operations from homes, other buildings, or archeological sites. The state Energy, Minerals, Natural Resource Department has recommended that rules be changed so that OCD evaluates the cumulative impacts of drilling on an area, instead of considering applications simply on a well-by-well basis.
The governor’s Executive Order also directed the Department of Cultural Affairs to identify and secure financial resources to fully implement the 2004 Galisteo
Basin Archeological Sites Protection Act, and the Office of the State Engineer to undertake a site-specific analysis of the fresh
water supplies in the basin. The 730-square-mile Galisteo Basin watershed is a sub-basin within the Rio Grande
Basin, and is part of the Rio Grande Underground Water Basin, which is administered by the State Engineer.
Neighboring Rio Arriba County, which, unlike SF County, has about 11,000 active drill sites, adopted a similar moratorium in response to Approach Resource’s plan to drill within 90,000 acres in the scenic, water-rich foothills and mountains east of Tierra Amarilla. Approach responded by suing the county, challenging its authority. The suit was later dropped. Watersheds in the area feed the Rio Chama, the Rio Grande and generate much of the stream flow that courses through the state. In July 2007, state regulators revoked a controversial oil-drilling permit near the headwaters of Tierra Amarilla Creek after discovering that Approach Resource’s proposed site was within a wetland and approximately 40 feet from surface water sources.
 
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