High Ozone Levels Threaten New Mexico Oil Town

Ozone levels in the small town of Loving, New Mexico are some of the highest encountered in years by a group of air quality scientists, reports Jerry Redfern for KUNM. “Despite the elevated readings, the Environmental Protection Agency — the primary enforcer of the nation’s Clean Air Act — has not acted on the findings, or other existing data documenting years of pollution in the area — despite rules indicating that they could.”

The town of 1,400 sits in the middle of the nation’s most productive oilfield, the Permian Basin. The oil and gas industry is largely responsible for the high levels of pollutants. “When asked about HEI Energy’s findings, Joe Robledo, a press officer for the EPA, said the decision not to label the Permian Basin a nonattainment area was made in 2018, “based on the most current, complete and quality-assured data at that time.” In 2018, however, New Mexico’s oil production — primarily in the Permian Basin — was just one-third of what it is today.”

Redfern contrasts air quality monitoring and enforcement in the Permian Basin with how pollution is managed in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin, where the EPA did declare a nonattainment zone. In New Mexico, a lack of resources means little monitoring or enforcement  of emissions rules.