By Hannah Grover
The Water Quality Control Commission approved a rule Wednesday outlining requirements for wastewater reuse, including how produced water — a byproduct of oil and gas production — can be handled for reuse.
The commission passed the rule on a 7-0 vote following two days of discussions.
During the first day, the body reversed course on its previous controversial move to allow produced water pilot projects to seek discharge permits, which would have allowed the projects to use treated produced water in ways that could result in it coming into contact with groundwater.
Advocacy groups and some state lawmakers expressed opposition to such actions and urged the Water Quality Control Commission to prohibit discharge permits for pilot projects.
During the Tuesday session, commissioners expressed concerns about what chemicals are in the produced water and said it may be too early to authorize pilot projects that require discharge permits.
“We decided not to allow pilot projects to discharge water outside of the industry,” Chairman Bruce Thomson said on Wednesday.
He said the commission also decided to ask the New Mexico Environment Department to establish a permit for pilot projects that use produced water.
Advocates praised the commission’s decision not to allow discharge permits for pilot projects.
“We are proud, pleased, and relieved that the Water Quality Control Commission removed the exemption to allow discharge, as we requested, and adopted a rule that will protect clean water, the New Mexicans who depend on it, and the ecosystems that would be harmed by introducing this fracking waste,” Tannis Fox, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center, said in a press release. “Once an aquifer is polluted, it is difficult, costly and sometimes impossible to clean up.”
While the new rule doesn’t allow discharge permits for pilot projects, it allows pilot projects to move forward and includes guidance for people overseeing such efforts. The commissioners on Wednesday delved into what requirements should be in place for those pilot projects to ensure they do not result in any contamination and that the water is properly disposed of, whether it is treated or untreated.
The approved rule requires proper disposal of any materials that come into contact with either treated or untreated produced water during a pilot project’s operations. That includes plant materials, which is important because some of the existing pilot projects are experimenting with using produced water to irrigate plants in a greenhouse setting.
The hearing examiner is now working on a draft statement of reasons, which will be sent to commissioners for possible revisions. The commission authorized the chairman to sign the final statement of reasons.