A draft of Santa Fe County's much anticipated new oil and gas drilling ordinance is scheduled to be released today.

But state and local officials are also calling for a moratorium on drilling permits that would give residents and policymakers more time to consider how proposed drilling activities in the Galisteo Basin area should be regulated.

Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, delivered a letter to Oil Conservation Division Director Mark Fesmire and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary Joanna Prukop on Monday asking the state to consider a six-month moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin.

A moratorium, Wirth wrote, "would give the state time to determine whether oil and gas drilling in this area can be prevented all together ... or if any special stipulations are needed on approved permit applications."

Wirth also said in his letter that the moratorium would give Santa Fe County more time to draft and implement its new ordinance.

"My feeling is that we should not rush the process," Wirth said Monday. "The Galisteo Basin has seen such limited oil and gas drilling. I'm concerned things are moving at a real high rate of speed, and I think we should slow down."

Prukop said Monday that New Mexico has never issued a moratorium on oil and gas drilling permits before, though it did issue a temporary moratorium on open-pit mines in Otero Mesa in 2004. She said the division's attorneys are looking at state laws to try to define jurisdictional issues and options. She said she plans to meet with county commissioners after the next public meeting on the subject in December "to figure out a reasonable pathway forward."

The county began working on its ordinance several months ago after learning that Tecton Energy of Houston had acquired 65,000 acres of mineral rights centered in the Galisteo Basin area. Tecton Energy representatives — who have estimated the basin area holds as much as 100 million barrels of "light, sweet crude" — began pumping oil out of an existing well last spring. But the company will need new permits to carry out its plans to re-enter two plugged wells and drill six more exploratory wells. The county's existing mining ordinance relates primarily to hard-rock mining.

County Commissioner Mike Anaya also wants a moratorium at the county level to stall any drilling applications until the new ordinance is finalized. Anaya is the sponsor of a resolution that will be considered by the commission today, which calls for a three-month moratorium on drilling permits.

Anaya said three months would probably be enough time for the county to finalize its new ordinance before reviewing any drilling applications.

"I think we should decide which ordinance we are going to go with before we start issuing permits," Anaya said. "Plus it's the holidays, and we need to give our constituents a little more time to look over the ordinance we have drafted."

Anaya said he didn't know about Wirth's call for a moratorium until a reporter told him about it Monday. "I guess I would support it," he said. "I just don't want to keep things lingering. I want to get this ordinance done on our side. I don't want things to go on and on and on, and I don't want to put the county in a legal battle."

Anaya and Commissioner Jack Sullivan told a crowd of about 500 people at a public meeting in Eldorado on Nov. 15 that the county's draft ordinance would be available for public review today and that written comments on the ordinance would be accepted through Dec. 21.

Sullivan said he was also unaware of Wirth's request.

"I'm sure it would be welcome by the residents," Sullivan said. "I think they feel the time frame to review the new ordinance is short ... but if we take too long to prepare a new ordinance, there is always a possibility that the application won't fall under the new ordinance."

Some drilling opponents question the need for a new ordinance, saying the current one, which took about three years to draft, already has strong protections for the environment. But Sullivan pointed out that because the existing ordinance doesn't specifically address oil and gas activities, it could create opportunities for mining companies to sue the county.

He said aspects of the new ordinance, such as a section that requires well monitoring, will give the county the tools it needs to hold drilling companies accountable.

Tecton Energy announced Nov. 2 that it would submit applications to drill this month, but CEO Bill Dirks said two weeks ago that the company probably won't meet that timeline.

Wirth said he was prompted to ask for a moratorium in part because of the overwhelming public input he's received on the topic.

"The number of e-mails, letters and phone calls I've received, it's really more than almost any issue I've faced since being in the Legislature," Wirth said. "I've not had a single person, constituent or otherwise, contact me in support of this proposition."

Fesmire wasn't immediately available to comment for this story. Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources spokeswoman Jodi McGinnis Porter said Fesmire was busy attending hearings on a related but separate issue: the regulation of drilling-related waste pits.

McGinnis said waste pits are responsible for about half the 800 documented cases of oil- and gas-related groundwater contamination in the state.

A copy of Wirth's letter also was sent to Gov. Bill Richardson's environmental adviser, Sarah Cottrell. Cottrell did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.