New Mexico forges rule for treatment and reuse of oil

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Environmental officials in New Mexico took initial steps Monday toward regulating the treatment and reuse of oil industry fracking water as the state grapples with scarce water supplies and fossil fuel producers confront shrinking opportunities for wastewater disposal.

A state water quality commission opened a weeklong series of hearings as the nation’s No. 2 state for petroleum production begins to build out a series of rules that initially prohibit the release after treatment of so-called produced water from oil and gas production while still opening the way for pilot projects.

“The rule is prohibitive when it comes to any type of release of any type of produced water, whether treated or untreated,” said Andrew Knight, assistant general counsel to the state Environment Department, in opening statements. “At this point, we couldn’t even tell you what testing would be needed to determine that a certain treatment technology or combination of technologies would be protective.”