Drilling foes pack Chavez Center
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11/1/2007 -
Representatives from Tecton Energy took a pounding from angry residents Thursday night at a meeting the company hosted to discuss its plans for oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin.About 300 people armed with questions and comments filled the parking lot of Genoveva Chavez Community Center to overflowing. Late arrivals had to sit on chairs outside the meeting room. Some crowded doorways and pressed up against the windows, jostling for position so aggressively that one Tecton representative said he wished the police had been present.
Bill Dirks, managing partner of the Houston-based company that has leased 65,000 acres of mineral rights in the Galisteo Basin area, did most of the talking for the company as the crowd sometimes shouted him down, booed, hissed and yelled expletives.
Dirks spoke for about an hour about the company's plans to drill for the 50 million to 100 million barrels of oil it believes lies under southern Santa Fe County and outlined the steps it would take to ensure a minimal environmental impact.
Water quality and availability, negative effects on property values and environmental contamination were paramount concerns for the speakers.
Asked what the company would do if the aquifer under the Galisteo Basin became contaminated, Dirks said, "It's not going to be contaminated. It's absolutely not going to be contaminated."
Asked where the water used in the drilling process would come from, Dirks said he doesn't know because the company is still trying to find water it can purchase for the project.
Tecton purchased 67,000 gallon of water for $861 from Santa Fe County last spring for use in some of its preliminary explorations.
The company has announced plans to enter eight wells to determine the feasibility of extracting the oil, but Dirks said Thursday that if oil is found in the quantities the company suspects, "there will be lots of wells drilled," and companies like Exxon, Shell and Chevron could start drilling here.
Betsy Siwula-Brandt, 50, who said she spent 18 years working in the oil and gas exploration business, said the type of drilling Tecton intends to do — which involves injecting pressurized fluids into the ground to fracture surrounding rock so it will relinquish oil — is the riskiest type of drilling in the business, and protective casings designed to guard water sources aren't fool proof.
"There is no way he can guarantee there won't be seeping behind the surface casings," Siwula-Brandt said. "Once it gets into the ground water, there is no remediation. There is no way to stop it."
Tecton Energy hopes to apply for a county drilling permit later this month, Dirks said.
The county is currently working on amending its existing mining code to address oil and gas drilling more specifically.
Several residents noted none of the Santa Fe County commissioners appeared to be at the meeting, but Commissioner Jack Sullivan, reached by phone afterward, said he attended but had to stand outside in the dark and cold because the room was full.
"A lot of people would like commissioners to take a stand on this, but we have to first look at something that is in front of us to take a stand," Sullivan said "I look at every land-use applicant with heavy skepticism. I think the public can rest assured that this application is going to get intense scrutiny."
Commissioners Harry Montoya and Paul Campos could not be immediately reached for comment.
Commissioner Mike Anaya, whose represents District 3, where the drilling might take place, said he had a scheduling conflict but had attended an earlier public meeting on the topic.
Commissioner Virginia Vigil said she didn't attend because the county will host its own meeting on the topic Nov. 15 at El Dorado Elementary School.
Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.
