Decisions by regulators at WQCC and PRC put industry and private equity investors above the people

As we reported briefly last week, a coalition of fracking waste reuse proponents hypocritically calling themselves the Water Access Treatment and Reuse Alliance, or the "WATR" alliance, filed a new petition for fracking waste reuse and discharge to New Mexico land and waters. And yesterday, despite reasoned opposition from multiple intervenors in the WQCC 23-84 rulemaking case, the WQCC voted unanimously to give them a hearing, just days before the recently promulgated rule banning discharge has even taken effect!

In the words of Commissioner Brancard, who unfortunately left the meeting prior to the vote, "Are you serious?!" But apparently the rest of the Commission didn't care about the absurdity.

This new petition was filed in brazen disregard of the will of hundreds of New Mexicans who gave public comment, and the energy and resources of all of the State agencies, regulators, experts, non-profit intervenors and grassroots groups that participated in the 23-84 Wastewater Reuse hearing, culminating in the very recent decision of the Water Quality Control Commission to prohibit the discharge of both untreated and treated produced water because science has not yet proved its safety. They claimed a "robust collection of scientific data and other technical evidence" to back up their petition, but did not cite to a single new peer reviewed scientific study in their reply to our opposition.

Who are the members of this alliance? Describing itself as a "coalition of stakeholders, including municipalities, desalination companies, technology and internet service companies, mining and oil and gas operators, investors, technology providers, associations representing WATR users, and landowners," the newly built "Alliance" website lists the phone numbers of Jennifer Bradfute and Matthias Sayer as contacts, and requires a login to view any information about its members. Jennifer Bradfute and Matthias Sayer are the co-owners of Bradfute Sayer Consulting and Legal Services, and have been the primary advocates for produced water reuse in New Mexico for years.

Ms. Bradfute's bio on their company website boasts that "Jennifer is passionate about advancing onshore energy development" and details her work for ExxonMobil and Marathon Oil, as well as explaining how in 2019 "Jennifer spearheaded industry efforts to draft, negotiate, and successfully pass the New Mexico Produced Water Act" and "represented the oil and gas industry on New Mexico's Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force." She was also the expert advocating for fracking waste reuse at legislative hearings on the Strategic Water Supply Act. Mr. Sayer's prior position was Senior Vice President at NGL Energy Partners, a midstream oil and gas servicing company.

Bradfute and Sayer pretend they care about water scarcity, but peddle oil and gas talking points and reuse of fracking waste, another false solution to our water and climate crisis. Together these two oil and gas advocates have been advocating tirelessly for their clients, who remain anonymous.

But we know who the real stakeholders in this game are. They are the companies who are running out of places to inject their toxic radioactive waste underground and don't want to pay to ship that waste to Texas. They are the same culprits who should be held accountable for the tragic flooding deaths of more than 100 Texans this past week, and three people in Ruidoso just last night. This unprecedented flooding is an unsurprising result of the unmitigated climate chaos these fossil fuel companies are hoping the people and the regulators will just accept as inevitable and unavoidable so that they can preserve their profits.

OVER AT THE PRC UTILITY REGULATORS ARE ALSO HELPING CORPORATE STAKEHOLDERS HIDE FROM ACCOUNTABILITY

In April New Energy Economy joined multiple parties, including the NM Department of Justice and PRC Staff in arguing against Emera and Bernhard Capital Partner's designation of multiple documents as confidential trade secrets in their quest to purchase New Mexico Gas Company. And in May the Hearing Examiners in the case ordered them to make most of those documents public, writing:

The documents which the BCP Applicants are moving to withhold from public view provide unique insight into how both the transaction and post-closing dynamics may and will affect NMGC. Without the ability to review these documents, the public would have no other way of knowing under what terms NMGC is being acquired and who possesses a financial or proprietary interest in the company. The criticality of the documents and information to the transaction are affected with the public interest.

Emera and BCP appealed the Hearing Examiner's order to the PRC Commissioners, and in our Response to the appeal we argued that one of the critical factors governing the PRC's decision whether to allow the buyout of a public utility to go forward is whether the acquisition would diminish the PRC's ability to provide effective oversight. We argued that the identities of the investors behind the BCP acquisition fund must be disclosed so that the public and the PRC are able to evaluate their fitness and hold them accountable to the public interest. 

Instead the PRC voted to overturn the Hearing Examiner's Order, allowing Emera and BCP to hide the investors funding the acquisition, gifting them a cloak of anonymity that will prevent regulators and the public from holding the actual owners of the utility accountable for decisions it might make.

The corroding influence of private equity wealth and corporate exploitation in New Mexico is on full display, and even as we watch the ultimate consequences of that corrosion wreak havoc at the federal level, endangering all of us, there is no rest for the weary here in New Mexico either. We are exploring our legal options in both of these cases.

On that note, if you haven't signed the petition asking the PRC to reject EMNRD application to designate fossil fueled hydrogen a "zero carbon resource," please click here and sign by this evening so that it can be submitted at the Thursday meeting where the PRC will decide whether to take up the issue.