The Reclamation fund is simply NOT enough. Bond rates need to raised to cover the cost of clean up.

Why was there an explosion at Navajo oil refinery in Artesia? There’s been very little news or information.

Lawmakers were also in Artesia discussing the costs of abandoned wells.

Here’s the oil industry’s playbook: dump aging wells on small firms, which cash out and then go bankrupt — leaving taxpayers to clean up the mess.

The mess they were legally responsible to clean up the moment they start to drill.

Bonds are supposed to act like a bail bond - ensuring the owner will cover full cleanup costs when wells shut down — but instead they are just skipping bail.

Most bonds are just a few thousand dollars, while real cleanup averages over $160K!

New Mexico has no choice but to urgently disrupt the oil an gas playbook and force these companies to cover the actual costs of plugging and reclamation.

At the interim committee meeting of Water & Natural Resources oil and gas reps kept talking about the reclamation fund, which is paid into by oil and gas revenue.

It has about 16 million available each year for cleanup on all kinds of environmental messes in the state.

But here’s the deal… this talking point is a total distraction.

It’s a smoke screen that protects polluters who are supposed to be held responsible for cleaning up their own wells.

The Reclamation fund is simply NOT enough. Bond rates need to raised to cover the cost of clean up.

That is the only way to avoid massive environmental, financial, and human health costs onto local communities and property owners.