New Mexico proposes regulations to reuse fracking wastewater

Source: Associated Press

New Mexico proposes regulations to reuse fracking wastewater

BY MORGAN LEE
Updated 8:27 PM EST, December 28, 2023

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environmental officials have proposed a new regulatory framework for reusing wastewater with a focus on the used, salty byproducts of oil and natural gas drilling in a major U.S. production zone.

The Environment Department announced Thursday its petition to the Water Quality Control Commission to begin formal deliberations on the proposed rules. Public hearings could begin as soon as April.

New Mexico, the No. 2 state for oil production behind Texas, is looking to its energy sector and water-intensive fracking as a potential source of treated water for industrial applications — and to offset water demands that are depleting freshwater aquifers amid drought.

“We need to protect our fresh groundwater supplies not only from degradation or contamination but from overuse,” said John Rhoderick, director of the water protection division at the Environment Department. “We need to do everything we can to maintain those supplies because they’re not being replenished.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-would-reuse-fracking-water-d223d10d380b99a821bc98782c8db86e