You have probably heard of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which has sparked a nationwide discussion surrounding sovereign rights, environmental concerns, and the response of militarized police near Cannonball, N.D.
While the public eye was focused on North Dakota, however, another pipeline has been proposed in the San Juan Basin region of the Four Corners. The proposed Piñon Pipeline would transport fifty thousand barrels of crude oil per day along 130 miles through state, BLM, and sovereign Navajo Nation land.
The pipeline would pose human health and safety risks to an area of historically disenfranchised communities, with the possibility to increase methane pollution in an area already described as a methane hotspot in an article in the Denver Post on Dec. 5, 2015.
If the DAPL is any indication, the New Mexico BLM should complete a full Environmental Impact Statement before construction begins, and it is time to call on our leaders to begin the transition to an energy economy with less potential pitfalls for humans and the environment.
Scott Greenler
Durango