By Hannah Grover
NM Political Report

Debate included whether chemical disclosure requirements violate law

The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission moved forward with a rulemaking Tuesday to prevent the use of PFAS chemicals in downhole oil and gas operations such as hydraulic fracturing.
After lengthy discussions, the state regulators approved a proposed rule with various changes based on commission deliberations, however that rule will not become official until the commissioners have a chance to further review it and issue an official order at a future meeting. 
Commissioners went through the rule and looked at various definitions individually. 
There were three proposals for what the PFAS rule should look like. These rules were drafted by WildEarth Guardians, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and the Oil Conservation Division.
The final rule will likely look different than any of those three proposals.
“I don’t think any one set of proposals encompasses where I would land,” Commissioner Greg Bloom said at the start of the meeting.
The rulemaking came as a result of a petition by the advocacy group WildEarth Guardians, which is concerned that the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in oil and gas operations could impact communities in the Permian and San Juan basins.
One of the areas debated during deliberations was whether companies should be required to disclose what chemicals are being used in oil and gas operations. Proponents of such a requirement say it is needed to ensure PFAS chemicals aren’t injected into the ground, but opponents say such requirements would violate the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
Bloom said NMOGA noted in its arguments that a type of PFAS chemical known as PTFE was used until 2020 and another PFAS chemical was used until 2015.
“The only reason we know about the use of these chemicals is because they were disclosed,” he said. “Had they been held as trade secrets, we would not have known anything about them.”
Bloom noted that there are thousands of types of PFAS chemicals and many of them have not undergone safety testing. He said if the rule is not implemented, those chemicals could be kept as trade secrets.
Commissioner William Ampomah was not convinced that such requirements wouldn’t violate the Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
“Let’s say if we force companies to more or less disclose entirely all the chemicals that they are going to use in the downhill operations, are we not in violation of the trade secret?” he asked.
Bloom argued that the Oil Conservation Commission would not be violating the law because “we would be saying that companies simply have to disclose the chemicals they’re using, and they can’t use anything that’s not disclosed.”
Commission Chairman Gerasimos Razatos said he also had concerns that the Oil Conservation Commission could be overstepping its authority, though he shared Bloom’s concerns that the PFAS chemicals used in oil and gas operations could impact public safety and the environment. 
A representative from the New Mexico Department of Justice told commissioners that both sides laid out legal arguments and that there was not a black and white answer.
“We’re up here protecting health. We’re up here protecting the environment. And right now, the industry can pick any chemical, call it trade secret, and we have no idea it’s in use,” Bloom said. “I mean, there could be an entire new class of chemicals invented tomorrow that would be put into use and we wouldn’t know about it for lord knows how long until somebody decided to voluntarily disclose it to us.”
Ultimately, Razatos sided with Ampomah and said the chemical disclosure of all chemicals used in the oil and gas industry in New Mexico goes beyond the purview of the Oil Conservation Commission.

By Felicia Fredd
Enchanted Garden Productions
​
My second garden design project in the 'badland' foothills of Abiquiu, NM is my own place. The landscape around me is dry, fragile, and ruggedly picturesque, and I have a great view of the Chama River corridor just a 1/2 mile away. I often take note of the dramatic shift in vegetation from rio grande cottonwood and willows along the riverbank to the sparse pinon juniper scrubland beginning just 200' beyond.

I don't know that it is actually any hotter, or colder, living in the foothill slopes, but it is definitely more exposed. Beginning in June, leaving the house can feel like stepping onto a hot tarmac. The soil is essentially bare, the light very intense, and it is indeed hot. Also, I do not have a well. Instead, I have an above ground cistern to which precious water is delivered about four times a year. All of this is to say that a tender, leafy, oasis is out of the question for me, but to have no garden, in my case 'yarden', is also out of the question. The value of diverse plant life has become much clearer living in the desert.

After three years of considering the many opportunity/constraint variables, I've moved forward with several big edible THORNLESS 'nopal' type prickly pear cactus (henceforth referred to as nopal) as a primary structural element for the space. It is one of few plants that will hopefully allow me to create fullness, shade, food, beauty, and conserve soil with an extremely limited water supply.

I do not make a habit of experimenting with plants outside of their established climate & soil range, and I would never have thought about trying nopal if I hadn't spotted a large specimen growing nearby. My first propagative cuttings came about a year and a half ago from a mother plant growing in someone's front yard in La Mesilla, just 30 minutes south of Abiquiu. The owner said it had gotten so big (about 5x8 feet) that she was happy to give several pads away.

The proximity of this gorgeous plant was encouraging, but not a guarantee that it would survive even colder temperatures in Abiquiu. But it did survive, and last spring each pad pushed out 3-5 new leaf buds, and nearly tripled in size in one growing season.

The cactus I brought home is probably a variety of Opuntia ellisiana - one that is generally not expected to survive below 10F. We have even colder temperature dips and wind chills, so it could be a unique hybrid with a slight advantage. After quite a bit of research, I'd say I've learned that nothing is certain in the world of cactus - opuntia in particular. The entire genus is referred to simply as "prickly pear cactus". They are known to be 'promiscuous' plants that hybridize freely.
I can also now say that I’ve had success with from cuttings of Opuntia erinacea (Grizzly Bear Prickly Pear) from Idaho, Opuntia violacea (Santa Rita Prickly Pear), Echinocerus coccineus (Spiny hedgehog Cactus) from Santa Fe, and Escobaria vivipara (New Mexico Spinystar). These low growing cacti are for stabilizing some gravelly slopes, bees, color, texture. None of these plants are on invasive species watch lists

(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4318432/).

The best approach for anyone wanting cactus hardy to our elevation will be to find donor plants that have been growing reasonably close by, and ideally, for at least a few years having different weather patterns. I'm giving a shout out here to Roger Montoya at Moving Arts Espanola for sharing cuttings of his nopal type cactus that grow right in the parking lot 'hellstrips' of the facility.

And here are a few softer plants that have the drought and soil tolerance for my hot and sandy location: ephedra, palafoxia, astragalus, gaura, evening primrose, datura: ​

​New Mexico Environmental Department
​
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)PFAS contamination in New Mexico is one of the New Mexico Environment Department’s top priorities, as is the protection of human health and the environment. 

PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals that have been used for a large number of purposes since the 1950s. PFAS have been used in food packaging, cleaning products, stain resistant carpet treatments, nonstick cookware, and firefighting foam, among other products. While PFAS have made our lives easier – they come with the cost of adversely impacting our health and the environment.

Due to the widespread use of PFAS and the fact that they bioaccumulate, they are found in the bodies of people and animals all over the world, as well as ground and surface water. New Mexico has some of the highest documented levels of PFAS in the world with respect to wildlife and plants around Lake Holloman which is next to Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands National Park. In addition, the City of Clovis and rural Curry County have been suffering with PFAS pollution caused by Cannon Air Force Base. As a result, 3,600 dairy cow that were euthanized from PFAS poisoning after the herd consumed the groundwater that the U.S. Department of Defense contaminated and failed to clean-up.

Health Impacts

With an estimate 19,000 different forms of PFAS circulating through our economy in consumer goods, these chemicals are in your home in everything from food packaging, cookware, carpet, furniture, and more. In addition, living around a military base where PFAS-containing fire fighting foams were used for jet fuel fires increases your risk of exposure through drinking water. Once exposed to PFAS, there are many ways in which these chemicals can hurt your health, including:

• Cancer: Linked to kidney, testicular, and breast cancers.
• Endocrine Disruption: Interference with thyroid function, leading to hypothyroidism or other thyroid disorders.
• Immune System Suppression: Reduced vaccine response and weakened immunity.
• Liver Damage: Elevated liver enzymes, leading to liver toxicity and potential damage over time.
• Developmental Issues: Impaired fetal development, low birth weight, skeletal variation, and developmental delay.
• Cholesterol Elevation: Increased levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
• Reproductive Effects: Disrupted fertility in both men and women, menstrual irregularities/lower sperm quality.
• Kidney and Liver Disease: Increased risks of chronic kidney disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

​Drinking Water
Public water systems in New Mexico are regulated by the New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau. However, water quality for private wells, also known as domestic wells, is not regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Therefore, private well owners are responsible for testing the quality of their drinking water and maintaining their wells.

On April 10, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first-ever national drinking water standards for several PFAS in drinking water. The final rule establishes maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (also known as GenX chemicals) as individual contaminants, and will regulate PFNA, PFHxS, HFPO-DA, and PFBS as a mixture through a Hazard Index. This new rule will significantly reduce the level of PFAS in drinking water across the United States. However, these standards do not apply to private wells.

Although the New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau does not regulate water quality for private wells, we tested a limited number of private wells for PFAS with the U.S. Geological Survey. Results showed that PFAS occur in some private wells in New Mexico, but no PFAS were detected in the majority of wells that were sampled. Other organizations may have conducted or are in the process of conducting PFAS studies as well.

Private well owners who would like to collect their own water samples for PFAS testing may contact a certified drinking water laboratory. Laboratories can provide instructions for collecting water samples.
​
To learn more, please see the New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau factsheet PFAS and Your Private Well (English) (Español). Other useful links for private well owners are provided below:

• Certified Drinking Water Laboratories – A PDF file of laboratories around the United States that can perform PFAS testing.

• Drinking Water Bureau – General Guidance for Owners of Private Wells – Link to a New Mexico Environment Department webpage with additional resources for private drinking water well owners.

• New Mexico Environmental Public Health Tracking – Private Wells – Link to a New Mexico Department of Health webpage with additional resources for private drinking water well owners.

• US Environmental Protection Agency – Private Drinking Water Wells – Link to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency webpage with additional resources for private drinking water well owners.

Testing Initiatives

In the fall and winter of 2024, the New Mexico Environment Department offered residents who live around Cannon Air Force Base an opportunity to have their private drinking water wells tested for PFAS contamination. The testing was available to anyone who lived in areas around Cannon Air Force Base on a first come, first serve basis (up to 150 households). To inquire about future private drinking water well testing, please email us at [email protected] with your full name, email address, street address, and phone number.

• State offers free private well water tests for PFAS near Cannon Air Force Base

​SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) confirms that a deceased resident of Lea County, who was unvaccinated, tested positive for measles.

The official cause of death is still under investigation by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. However, NMDOH Scientific Laboratory has confirmed the presence of the measles virus. The individual did not seek medical care before passing.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can cause severe complications. One in five cases requires hospitalization, and approximately three in every 1,000 cases result in death.

The only prevention for the highly contagious respiratory illness is vaccination. With ongoing exposures in Lea County, NMDOH urges residents to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families.

“We don’t want to see New Mexicans getting sick or dying from measles,” said Dr. Chad Smelser, NMDOH Deputy State Epidemiologist. “The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is the best protection against this serious disease.”

To support community protection, NMDOH has scheduled free measles vaccination clinics in Lea County on Tuesday, March 11:

• 9 a.m. — 3 p.m. at the Hobbs Public Health Office, 1923 N. Dal Paso. 
• 9 a.m. — 3 p.m. at the Lovington Public Health Office, 302 N. 5th Street.

If you have symptoms, call before visiting. Staff will provide guidance based on symptom severity:

• Hobbs Office (575) 397-2463. 
• Lovington Office (575) 396-2853.

Anyone with measles-related questions – such as about symptoms or vaccinations – is asked to call the NMDOH Helpline at 1-833-796-8773. The Helpline is staffed by nurses able to provide guidance in English and in Spanish.

More information is available on the NMDOH website at http://measles.doh.nm.gov.

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum sends its deepest condolences to Anna Marie Hamilton, their sons, and the entire Hamilton family after the passing of Juan Hamilton.
 
A talented artist, Mr. Hamilton’s ceramic and sculpture works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and many others, including the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
 
After coming to New Mexico in 1973, Mr. Hamilton had an undeniable presence in Georgia O’Keeffe’s life. For 13 years, he became a companion both at home and in travel, a studio assistant, and a trusted administrator of O’Keeffe’s business affairs. He served as a special consultant to the Museum’s Board of Trustees since the Museum’s inception in 1997.
 
After her death, he became an ardent steward of her legacy, generously gifting many of O’Keeffe’s personal belongings to the Museum, which remain significant pieces of O’Keeffe’s story as an artist and a person. These objects and her story continue to inspire the thousands of people who visit the Museum and the Home & Studio in Abiquiú each year. Juan will be remembered as a dear friend of the Museum and our namesake artist. 

By: Patrick Lohmann
​Source NM

As Albuquerque and the rest of the state gear up for another wildfire season, a 22,000-square-foot building housing a wildfire dispatch center is on the list of lease terminations announced by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
​
The building at 2113 Osuna Road Northeast in Albuquerque is the office for the Cibola National Forest Supervisor and also the headquarters of the Albuquerque Interagency Dispatch Center, which coordinates fire response among dozens or potentially hundreds of people from different agencies responding to a wildfire. 

According to the local broker for the lease between California-based EKF Properties LLC and the United States Forest Service, the property is the same one mentioned in the DOGE lease termination list. Property tax records also show the building has the same square footage as the one on the DOGE list. 

Emails and calls to the dispatch center or the National Interagency Fire Center, which oversees the dispatch center, were not returned or were returned undeliverable Tuesday. Several federal agencies, including the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, cooperate with the dispatch center, but did not respond to a request for comment. 

New Mexico State Forestry is also a partner. Forestry Spokesperson George Ducker declined to comment on the potential closure of the dispatch center but, in an emailed statement, called its work “critical” and “paramount” for  successful wildfire suppression. 

Dispatch centers coordinate fire suppression efforts between federal, state and tribal agencies, including monitoring radio traffic between hand crews, and air support. They also facilitate communications between incident command during larger and more complex wildfires, Ducker said. 

​“This kind of coordination is critical during emergencies where homes, lives and natural resources are at risk from wildfire,” Ducker said. “Because each wildfire requires an all-hands response, and that response can include from 100-1,000 people, maintaining good communication between all the different resources is paramount.”

The Albuquerque dispatch center, one of six in the state, covers the state’s biggest city, as well as hundreds of square miles in Central New Mexico, stretching south toward Truth or Consequences, west to Zuni Pueblo and east to Encino. Communications about wildfires that spark in that area, regardless of agency, flow through the dispatch center, as well as communications about ongoing prescribed burns. 

PEH

A new general surgeon has joined Presbyterian Española Hospital (PEH), expanding the care options close to home in northern New Mexico.

Dr. Antonio Brecevich will provide surgical treatment for a variety of conditions. He earned his Doctor of Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and completed his general surgery residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas.
​
"I am excited and honored to join the general surgery team at Presbyterian Española Hospital and to serve this community,” said Dr. Brecevich. “I am committed to providing high quality care and I look forward to the opportunity to serve my patients for all of their surgical needs."
Brecevich will join surgeons Dr. Blair Hough and Dr. Miguel Iturregui at PEH in providing inpatient and outpatient surgical care, as well as emergency surgeries. Surgeries offered include minimally invasive surgery of the gallbladder and colon, hernia surgery, colorectal and gastrointestinal surgery, anorectal surgery, hemorrhoid surgery, colonoscopy, gastrointestinal endoscopy, surgery for skin cancer, and wound management. Our general surgeons and healthcare team members will care for you before, during and after your surgery. For more information, visit phs.org.

Stanford University's a cappella group, Talisman, is headed to New Mexico for their 2025 Spring Break Tour.  They will be visiting Santa Fe on March 24 & 25; and they will be at Ghost Ranch and in Abiquiú on March 26 & 27.  
 
Stanford Talisman shares stories and songs from around the world.  
 
Talisman will perform at the Agape Center at Ghost Ranch on Wednesday, March 26 at 7pm.  The show is free,  and donations are always appreciated.  They will be visiting Abiquiú Elementary on the 27th , as well as exploring the local area.  Casa Manz (David, Andie & Maxmiño Manzanares) are their New Mexico host family. 
 
Stanford Talisman just celebrated their 35th Anniversary. Last year, they traveled to Thailand, and when Maximiño  Manzanares was a member from 2018-2019, they traveled to Mumbai and Udaipur, India.  Generations of members have had the opportunity to perform locally, nationally (including at the White House and the 1996 Olympics), and internationally (multiple times in South Africa). Further, they have performed with such artists as Bobby McFerrin and Joan Baez.  
 
http://www.stanfordtalisman.com/about.html 
 
 We truly believe that they will leave all of us here in New Mexico with something very special.   Their voices will uplift all of our hearts and spirits!
 
Just a couple of their songs:
 
Prayer Song (Blackfoot & Cheyenne): 
https://youtu.be/-TXk28YUZxQ?si=PcpGJkRysMJpJoBI&t=2184
Amazing Grace: 
https://youtu.be/-TXk28YUZxQ?si=LV2-Ic6yWb-SIFPc&t=5929
 
Questions?  Call 505-469-2015 or [email protected]

By Felicia Fredd
Images Courtesy of Felicia Fredd

While it’s still winter, I’d like to share a few garden photos that illustrate great ‘winter interest’ in a minimalist natural garden. In this case, it’s all about magical lichen covered boulders that happen to perfectly compliment a small aspen grove in a shady entry area - the sight of which gave me a good jolt of inspiration. I think one could actually make a career as a garden rock specialist, as a kind of Japanese master of form, placement, texture, light effects, color, etc. Of course you’d probably end up killed by a giant boulder, but it could be an otherwise beautiful life.

The unprofessional photos below (mine) were taken in the garden of Krista Elrick, a professional photographer and environmental activist who lives on the northwest edge of Santa Fe, NM. Her project began 20+ years ago with some large expanses of what I call scorched earth. She started with placement of very large boulders (via crane) to begin developing a sense of here vs. there - of garden space, or garden islands. It was a great instinct, and we have since been finding more and more transformative uses for even common grades of “crushed rock” to cool and protect soil, retain moisture, slow sheet flow of intense stormwater events, and shelter plants - many of which are native volunteers. We aren’t done, and there will be more documentation of the project in my Xtreme Design SW BLOG files.

AKA New Mexico for second-graders.
By Zach Hively

More than once, I’ve been accused—to my face!—of coming from a fake, made-up, incomprehensible place called New Mexico.

“You live in a not-real part of the world,” someone has told me.

This was rich, considering the circumstances: we stood on a platform in a train station in Cologne, a very few steps from both a monstrously tall dark and handsome medieval cathedral and a Lego store. If any place belongs in a fantasy novel, it is this one. (Especially once you spell the city the proper local way, Köln; only fantasy realms have little eyes above their vowels.)

The accusations have truth to them, though.

I do come from New Mexico. It is incomprehensible. And a limited number of people have at least heard of it. This is usually enough to make a New Mexican like me feel a bit of validation.

So imagine my delight when a friend of a friend asked me if I, as a New Mexican, would write a letter to her friend’s friend’s second-grade classroom in New Jersey. The letter needed to be about—what else?—Arizona.

Kidding! That would be like me calling New Jersey “New York,” which no one can get away with unless one is an NFL team.

The class project, simply enough, is to collect interesting facts from different places around the world, thereby saving the teacher from a bit of lesson planning.

Now, you might think that writing to a roomful of eight-year-olds is easy for me, a professional writer. You might be wrong.

This classroom is not, in professional writer parlance, my target audience. Most of the students do not themselves have the purchasing power to make book-buying decisions for their households.

Also, they live in New Jersey, a place I have never been and thus is fake, made-up, and incomprehensible. I need them to write me a letter about New Jersey first, so that I know what will best stun them about New Mexico.

However, they—being students in the USA—may not yet know their alphabet well enough to draft such a letter. So I am left unguided to compile a set of Interesting Facts about my home state.

These Interesting Facts are based on my actual responses to actual accusations I have received from possibly well-meaning ignoramuses around the world but especially around the country:

• Green chile is one of our state vegetables. It is a delicious member of the pepper family and not, in fact, a Dr. Seuss/St. Patrick lovechild chili stew that is colored green. You can put green chile in a bowl of chili, though, because you can put green chile in literally anything here. Green chile is our pumpkin spice.
• Red chile is green chile that grew up. You can also put this in literally anything. But not in any of the same ways as green chile. Like, at all. Except to put it in chili. (This makes it less Texan.)
• Our identity extends far beyond chile, I swear.
• For instance, we also have water. Not much of it, after we irrigate our chile crops! But yes, it is safe to drink.
• I mean, the ground water at my house specifically should not be used for drinking or cooking. But this is not because it’s New Mexican water! Even though it is New Mexican water. Generally speaking, though, you have less to fear from the water than from the chile.
• Not kidding about that. Green chile put my brother-in-law in the hospital.
• Granted, he comes from another made-up place named “Tennessee” after the famous playwright. Tennessee has an average humidity of 98%, an average elevation of five feet, and the cumulative spice level of Wonder Bread.
• New Mexico is none of those things.
• Our English is very good, thank you—almost as good as our Tiwa, Tewa, Keres, Towa, Zuni, Navajo, Mescalero Apache, Jicarilla Apache, and Spanish, all of which have been spoken here since long before New Jersey was even a colony.
• Yes, you can mail us packages at domestic rates from anywhere in the United States, no matter what your local postal employee says.
• In fact, we quite enjoy getting mail, ever since we began receiving postal service around 2011 or so.
• You can get on our good side if you send us products from IKEA or In-N-Out Burger, which we do not have here despite being, ostensibly, a United State.
• Nor will we ever get them, in case this influences your decision to attempt relocating here.
• But we will ship you some green chile in exchange.

A mild green chile sunset.

In summation, you second-graders and other people: we New Mexicans live in a very real, very non-made-up place, as actual and verifiable as roadrunners and jackalopes.
And no—as much as I wish I did, I don’t have a New Mexico passport to prove it.​