As a family physician in the Four Corners, I am extremely concerned about the BLM’s resource management plan amendment that will open Greater Chaco to new oil and gas leasing, and especially for further hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in this area.
Not only does building the oil and gas industry further climate change and the myriad impacts on public health (air pollution, heat-related disease, expanded ranges for mosquito-borne disease, food insecurity, natural disasters and more), but fracking itself poses significant health risks.
Hydraulic fracturing poses a risk to local water supplies via the injection of vast amounts of toxic chemicals far below ground. Methane leaks accelerate climate change. Air emissions, especially volatile organic compounds, aggravate respiratory disease. Diesel pollution and noise make nearby homes less safe and less pleasant places to live.
As a physician on the Zuni Reservation, I also know the impacts of climate change and environmental destruction on the culture and way of life of Native Americans. Chaco is a critical resource both environmentally and culturally. To date, the BLM has already authorized extraction of 90 percent of Chaco area lands, and new proposed leases are adjacent to historically and culturally important Chaco sites.
The BLM must protect it and protect the health and wellness of its residents and neighbors. The BLM should use this opportunity to impose a moratorium on oil and gas leasing until the resource management plan amendment is complete.
It is also critical that the BLM follow its multiple-use-mandate and preserve public lands by allowing absolutely no new oil and gas leasing in the area.
The BLM must do the research necessary to understand the health and environmental impacts of gas and oil leasing, consult with all impacted communities and tribes, and carefully consider these as it decides between even more hazardous fracking on our public lands versus preserving and returning lands to conservation and recreational use.
Valory Wangler, MD
Zuni, N.M.
Editor’s note: Dr. Wangler is a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, New Mexico.
