Oil boom in New Mexico could stick taxpayers with cleanup costs -study | Reuters
Drillers in New Mexico have set aside only a tiny fraction of the money they will eventually need to clean up their wells, pipelines and other infrastructure in the state, leaving taxpayers at risk of footing some of the balance, according to a study published on Thursday.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Drillers in New Mexico have set aside only a tiny fraction of the money they will eventually need to clean up their wells, pipelines and other infrastructure in the state, leaving taxpayers at risk of footing some of the balance, according to a study published on Thursday.
Concerns are growing about who will pay for the environmental impact of more than a century of oil and gas production in the United States. The issue is front and center in New Mexico, which has rapidly grown into the nation's third-largest oil producer.
State regulations require drillers to pay an up-front bond ranging from more than $25,000 to less than $2,500 per well - depending on how many total wells the company operates. The funds are set aside to cover cleanups if companies go bankrupt.
But those requirements are too low, according to the study, conducted by economics research firm The Center for Applied Research with cooperation from New Mexico state agencies that oversee oil and gas development.
The study estimated that it would cost $8.38 billion to close all the oil and gas infrastructure on New Mexico's state and private lands, and that the money available to finance that work through bonds purchased by drillers added up to just $201.4 million. That leaves a potential funding gap of nearly $8.2 …
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And the beat goes on......
Make profits private, and losses public. Where are the shareholders liability in this?
And people say we don't subsidize the oil companies.
Add this to a long list of projects where the private business makes the money and the taxpayer is left with the costly clean-up.
half of colorado is a superfund site because of 150 years of republicans history of kissing corporate ass
Which half would that be? What corporations are you are referring to? Never has been much industry here
Rocky Flats Atomic Plant, Rocky Mountain Arsenal. and the Gold King Mine spill were caused by Federal government foul ups.
Not much industry? Really? I see quite a few refineries every time I go to Denver
Same thing happened with the coal companies. They went bankrupt or out of business and left the taxpayer holding the bag.
Nah...there's no such thing as subsidizing Big Business in the USA!
I don't ever remember seeing in the definition of capitalism anything about being the first to stick it to everyone else..... I guess that's what our lawmakers are for.
The Libertarians were the ones to redefine capitalism to include stick it to your neighbor before he sticks it to you
This a a sky is falling piece that ignores the fact that not all oil and gas infrastructure would be closed, or require closing, simultaneously. It also ignores the fact that the oil and gas companies that are not defunct will be held accountable if one of their wells needs cleaned up, shut-in, etc.
Wait until Nichola starts investigating uninsured/underinsured motorists and the fact that the majority of people on the road either don't have liability coverage, or are woefully underinsured.
The details still remain. These companies are not putting away enough to cover their cleanup costs once they do stop production. You like providing them with what amounts to another subsidy?