OPINION: Fracking sites don’t belong near schools

When parents send their kids off to school each morning, they should trust that their children are safe, and the learning environment is healthy. But here in New Mexico, more than 34,000 students attend schools within a mile of an oil and gas well, exposing these children to toxic emissions that threaten their health and their ability to learn.

A bill before the state Legislature could change that. Legislators have a chance to protect New Mexico’s children by prohibiting new oil and gas extraction within a mile of schools and requiring existing wells to comply with environmental protections. This proposal will not impact the state’s oil and gas revenue.

The urgency is clear. Fossil fuel production in New Mexico has more than doubled since 2018. Oil and gas wells in the northwest and southeast corners of our state are now densely clustered with little regard for nearby communities.

As of Jan. 17, 857 wells operate within a mile of a New Mexico school, 241 are within a half mile and 28 are within 1,000 feet. Jefferson Elementary, in Hobbs, is surrounded by 160 oil and gas wells operating within a mile.

Skyrocketing fossil-fuel production has brought an explosion of pollution. Ozone, commonly called smog, has spiked in San Juan, Eddy and Lea counties. The Carlsbad area is the only place in the country where the air violates federal ozone standards and is getting worse.

In addition to being major sources of the chemicals that create ozone, these wells spew carcinogenic gases and hazardous particulates. And although New Mexico has passed stronger emissions rules in the past few years, enforcement is lacking. The head of the state’s Environment Department, James Kenney, told legislators last year that roughly 70% of the oil and gas sites his agency inspected were violating emissions standards.

Exposure to oil and gas extraction substantially heightens the risk of health problems like asthma, childhood lymphoma, respiratory distress, low birth weight and birth defects. Children are particularly vulnerable, and seemingly minor effects — like difficulty breathing or nosebleeds — can harm a child’s learning ability.

While at school, students are in the state’s care and our government is responsible for protecting them.

To that end, state Rep. Debbie Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, has introduced House Bill 35, which would create Children’s Health Protection Zones, 1-mile buffers surrounding New Mexico schools. No new oil and gas extraction would be permitted within these buffer zones. Existing facilities within these zones would be required to install leak detection systems, promptly report leaks to the Environment Department, and suspend operations if a leak persisted or the facility violated the law by otherwise failing to control emissions.

Amid its thousands of oil and gas fields, New Mexico has few fossil fuel buffer zones, and even those are inadequate. This is unacceptable. Eddy County requires only 300 feet between wells and schools and San Juan County has no setback requirement.

Since June 2023, the State Land Office has stopped leasing state land within 1 mile of schools for new oil and gas extraction. However, only 18% of wells within a mile of a school are on state land. And although the Oil Conservation Division and the Environment Department have some oversight over all wells, neither has the legal authority to require that wells be set back any distance from schools.

Our legislators must ensure that New Mexico has a vibrant future for many generations to come, and that future starts with the health and education of our children. Health protection zones around schools are a basic, common-sense step to protect our children.

Gail Evans, of Albuquerque, is an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.