Santa Fe New Mexican reports on cabinet heads directed to get oil and gas petition on fracking waste reuse “over the finish line”

Holy Crap. Internal emails reveal high level cabinet heads were directed to get oil and gas petition on fracking waste reuse “over the finish line”

From the Santa Fe New Mexican: “behind the scenes, Environment Secretary James Kenney and staff members from the Governor’s Office leaned on the Cabinet heads to replace their appointees and take their seats on the commission — which voted against the loosened fracking wastewater regulations earlier this year — to help get the change “over the finish line,” as a staffer from the Governor’s Office said in emails recently obtained by The New Mexican.

The internal communications raise questions about the independence of the Water Quality Control Commission, indicating the head of the Environment Department and the Governor’s Office staff have held calls with the Cabinet heads to discuss the rulemaking case, pushing them to take part themselves as commissioners in order to approve it.

Environmental groups and others opposed to the controversial proposed rules have cast the emails as evidence of an effort from the top to “fix” the proceeding in order to install the new regulations regarding so-called produced water. They allege the emails themselves are evidence of violations of administrative code or New Mexico statute concerning the commission.”

Part 1 as reported by Nicholas Gilmore in the Santa Fe New Mexican.