Today, a coalition of environmental groups, Tribal leaders, and experts submitted testimony to the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission in support of long-overdue reforms to the state’s oil and gas rules to prevent “abandoned wells,” wells that operators abandon that pose significant public health and environmental threats. The coalition is represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, which filed the legal and technical testimony on behalf of coalition partners committed to protecting New Mexico’s land, water, air, and communities.
“In New Mexico, thousands of inactive and low-producing wells are at risk of becoming ‘abandoned’ and the responsibility of the state to clean up,” said Tannis Fox, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “This rulemaking provides a framework to prevent abandoned wells and to ensure oil and gas companies bear the true cost of cleaning up after themselves.”
The Stakes: Public Funds, Public and Environmental Health
New Mexico currently faces between $700 million and $1.6 billion in projected oil and gas well cleanup liabilities. Yet under existing rules, companies can post as little as $25,000 per well or $250,000 for statewide operations—a tiny fraction of the real cleanup cost, which averages $163,000 per well to the state, according to a recent report by the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee. The report includes Oil Conservation Division data that show 700 wells are currently identified for state-led plugging.
Over the past five years, more than $100 million in public money—from both state and federal sources—has been used to plug and reclaim abandoned or orphaned wells. Thousands more wells remain at risk of abandonment, particularly in rural and Tribal areas already overburdened by pollution.
Expert Testimony Supports the Rulemaking
The filing submission today in Case No. 24683 at the Oil Conservation Commission consists of direct testimony and exhibits from independent oil and gas experts regarding how to address and prevent abandoned wells.
“The data and experts make it clear: the current system – with its woefully small bonding requirements and lax handling of long-inactive sites – is broken, and it’s putting everyday New Mexicans in harm’s way,” said Douglas Meiklejohn, water quality & land restoration advocate at Conservation Voters New Mexico Education Fund. “Updating bonding and other requirements is common sense; if you make a mess, you clean it up and you don’t force someone else to pay for it. It is also critically important for the health of people living near these polluting well sites and for acting on climate change, and it is deeply overdue.”
A Coalition for Accountability
The parties supporting the proposed rules include Citizens Caring for the Future, Conservation Voters New Mexico Education Fund, Diné C.A.R.E., Earthworks, Naeva, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians. Together, these organizations are calling for rules that will:
- Update bonding requirements to $150,000 per well for inactive, marginal, and high-risk wells, more closely aligning with actual plugging costs,
- Require operators with portfolios containing more than 15% inactive and/or marginal wells to post single well bonding for all their wells, reducing risk to public funds,
- Prevent poorly funded or noncompliant operators from inheriting wells—a common path to well abandonment—with more stringent transfer rules,
- Tighten temporary abandonment rules to require wells to show they will return to production and cap inactive wells to 8 years to avoid indefinite plugging delays.
Next Steps
Public hearings on the proposed rules are scheduled to begin October 20, 2025. Coalition members will continue to mobilize public support and expert engagement to ensure the Commission adopts rules that reflect New Mexico’s values of stewardship, fairness, and responsibility.
Quotes from supporters:
“The Four Corners region continues to deal with the mess from the oil and gas extraction that has been here for over 100 years. These reforms will ensure that companies are held accountable to the true cost impacted communities are living with and the restoration of our land. As larger companies sell off low producing, high polluting wells in the San Juan basin, the risk of abandonment continues to grow. We ask the commission to urgently adopt these rules.”
— Ahtza Chavez, executive director, Naeva
“Far too many abandoned wells have been left to rot on tribal lands and communities, threatening the land, water, and air our Indigenous communities have depended on for generations. This rule is one step toward environmental justice—making sure corporations that profit from our land are also held responsible for restoring it, as is already required by law.”
— Robyn Jackson, executive director, Diné C.A.R.E.
“Out here in the Permian, we see firsthand what happens when oil and gas companies don’t clean up after themselves—leaking wells, dangerous sites, and our water at risk. Our communities deserve better. Modernizing the bonding rules is just common sense. If you drill it, you should clean it up. That’s how we protect our land, our health, and our future.”
— Haley Jones, organizer, Citizens Caring for the Future
“The San Juan Basin has thousands of idled, abandoned, shut in, and low-producing wells that will need to be properly reclaimed. This rulemaking is about sensible financial responsibility in areas of New Mexico that have long been relied upon for natural resource extraction. As oil and gas fields are depleted, it is vital that reclamation, plugging, and cleanup occurs with a realistic accounting of what the true costs are.”
— Mike Eisenfeld, Energy and Climate Program manager, San Juan Citizens Alliance
“This rule is about restoring balance and accountability. For too long, oil and gas operators have been allowed to drill without posting bonds that reflect the true costs of plugging. New Mexicans shouldn’t have to pay to plug corporations’ oil and gas wells. These reforms bring the law in line with common sense: If you drill it, you clean it.”
— Miya King-Flaherty, program manager, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter
“We have documented methane gas and toxic chemicals leaking from inactive and temporarily abandoned oil and gas sites on numerous occasions. Strengthening bonding will save lives and protect our air and water from these polluting sites that should be cleaned up by the companies who made the mess.”
— Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, senior manager for state policy, Earthworks
“As people of faith, we are called to care for creation and to act with justice. It is morally unacceptable to allow corporations to profit from our land while leaving behind pollution that harms our communities, future generations and the sacred trust of land, water and air. Everyone must take responsibility and accountability for ethical actions like stronger bonding rules which are vital for the common good. We all must care for what we Love and that means ensuring those who drill also take responsibility for healing the damage they cause.”
— Sister Joan Brown, osf, community advocate, New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power and Light
“The basic premise behind this rule is really pretty simple. Oil and gas polluters should pay to clean up their own messes.”
— Daniel Timmons, Climate & Health Program director, WildEarth Guardians
Contacts:
Tannis Fox, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-629-0732, gro.w1754885365alnre1754885365tsew@1754885365xof1754885365
Robyn Jackson, Diné C.A.R.E., 928-228-5805, gro.e1754885365rac-e1754885365nid@n1754885365oskca1754885365j.nyb1754885365or1754885365
Michael Jensen, Conservation Voters New Mexico, 505-362-1063, gro.m1754885365nvc@l1754885365eahci1754885365m1754885365
Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, Earthworks, 507-421-9021, gro.n1754885365oitca1754885365skrow1754885365htrae1754885365@gfwe1754885365rdna1754885365
Miya King-Flaherty, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, 505-301-0863, gro.b1754885365ulcar1754885365reis@1754885365ytreh1754885365alf-g1754885365nik.a1754885365yim1754885365
Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, gro.s1754885365nezit1754885365icnau1754885365jnas@1754885365ekim1754885365
Daniel Timmons, WildEarth Guardians, 505-570-7014, gro.s1754885365naidr1754885365aught1754885365raedl1754885365iw@sn1754885365ommit1754885365d1754885365
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