Oversight Field Hearing Committee on Natural Resources U.S. House of Representatives
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OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT: IMPACTS ON AIR POLLUTION AND SACRED SITES OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION Monday, April 15, 2019, in Santa Fe, New Mexico Serial No. 116–12 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov or Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 36–076 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES RAU´ L M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Chair DEBRA A. HAALAND, NM, Vice Chair GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Vice Chair, Insular Affairs ROB BISHOP, UT, Ranking Republican Member Grace F. Napolitano, CA Don Young, AK Jim Costa, CA Louie Gohmert, TX Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, CNMI Doug Lamborn, CO Jared Huffman, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Tom McClintock, CA Ruben Gallego, AZ Paul A. Gosar, AZ TJ Cox, CA Paul Cook, CA Joe Neguse, CO Bruce Westerman, AR Mike Levin, CA Garret Graves, LA Debra A. Haaland, NM Jody B. Hice, GA Jefferson Van Drew, NJ Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS Joe Cunningham, SC Daniel Webster, FL Nydia M. Vela´zquez, NY Liz Cheney, WY Diana DeGette, CO Mike Johnson, LA Wm. Lacy Clay, MO Jenniffer Gonza´lez-Colo´n, PR Debbie Dingell, MI John R. Curtis, UT Anthony G. Brown, MD Kevin Hern, OK A. Donald McEachin, VA Russ Fulcher, ID Darren Soto, FL Ed Case, HI Steven Horsford, NV Michael F. Q. San Nicolas, GU Matt Cartwright, PA Paul Tonko, NY Vacancy David Watkins, Chief of Staff Sarah Lim, Chief Counsel Parish Braden, Republican Staff Director http://naturalresources.house.gov SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, CA, Chair PAUL A. GOSAR, AZ, Ranking Republican Member Mike Levin, CA Doug Lamborn, CO Joe Cunningham, SC Bruce Westerman, AR A. Donald McEachin, VA Garret Graves, LA Diana DeGette, CO Liz Cheney, WY Anthony G. Brown, MD Kevin Hern, OK Jared Huffman, CA Rob Bishop, UT, ex officio Matt Cartwright, PA Rau´ l M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio (II) CONTENTS Page Hearing held on Monday, April 15, 2019 ............................................................... 1 Statement of Members: Lowenthal, Hon. Alan S., a Representative in Congress from the State of California ................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 3 Statement of Witnesses: Chavarria, Hon. Michael J., Vice Chairman, All Pueblo Council of Governors; Governor Santa Clara Pueblo, Albuquerque, New Mexico ..... 22 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 24 Grisham, Hon. Michelle Lujan, Governor of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico ............................................................................................................ 4 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 8 Jimenez, James, Executive Director, New Mexico Voices for Children, Albuquerque, New Mexico ............................................................................ 86 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 88 Lizer, Hon. Myron, Vice President, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona ........................................................................................................... 33 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 35 Lyon, David, Ph.D., Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund, Austin, Texas .............................................................................................................. 81 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 82 Nez, Rickie, Chairman, Resources and Development Committee, Navajo Nation Council, Window Rock, Arizona ...................................................... 37 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 38 O’Neill, Craig, Global Business Development Manager, FLIR Systems, Arlington, Virginia ........................................................................................ 90 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 91 Pinto, Kendra, Member of Counselor Chapter, Navajo Nation, Nageezi, New Mexico ................................................................................................... 63 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 65 Propst, Sarah Cottrell, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, Santa Fe, New Mexico .................... 48 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 49 Questions submitted for the record ......................................................... 51 Reed, Paul, Preservation Archaeologist, Archaeology Southwest, Tucson, Arizona ........................................................................................................... 57 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 58 Schreiber, Don, Rancher, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico ........................... 52 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 53 Vallo, Hon. Brian D., Governor, Pueblo of Acoma, Acoma, New Mexico ..... 27 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 29 Webber, Barbara, Executive Director, Health Action New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico ............................................................................ 76 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 78 Additional Materials Submitted for the Record: List of documents submitted for the record retained in the Committee’s official files .................................................................................................... 116 All Pueblo Council of Governors, April 3, 2019 Letter from J. Michael Chavarria to Tara Sweeny, DOI .................................................................. 103 Environmental Defense Fund, David Lyon, Ph.D., Methane emissions from liquids unloading and their implications for quantifying and mitigating emissions ..................................................................................... 106 Environmental Defense Fund—U.S. Methane Studies (List) ....................... 108 (III) IV Page Additional Materials Submitted for the Record—Continued Solstice Project, Anna Sofaer, President, et al., Testimony on Protection of Chaco ......................................................................................................... 111 WildEarth Guardians, Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director, Testimony for the Record ............................................................. 114 Submission for the Record by Representative Luja´n Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment—Uranium Impacts (Figures), April 13, 2019 ....................................................................... 14 OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING ON OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT: IMPACTS ON AIR POLLU- TION AND SACRED SITES Monday, April 15, 2019 U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee on Natural Resources Santa Fe, New Mexico The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., at the New Mexico State Legislature, Room 307, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Hon. Alan S. Lowenthal presiding. Present: Representatives Lowenthal and Grijalva. Also present: Representatives Haaland and Luja´n. Mr. LOWENTHAL. Good morning, everyone. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will come to order. I would like to welcome everyone to our first Subcommittee field hearing in the 116th Congress, and I would like to thank the Governor and her great team for all their help, and House Speaker Brian Egolf and his team for welcoming us to the state of New Mexico, to the great state of New Mexico, and graciously allowing us to use their committee room, and for all their help in making today’s very important hearing a reality. I would like to thank everyone who helped us organize and who participated in the events that we have already had over the week- end. We had full events over the weekend. They were extremely enlightening and allowed us to hear a lot of additional voices re- garding the issues that are facing this area. I need to get through a little parliamentary housekeeping, so please bear with me for a second or two. Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at hear- ings are limited to the Chair and the Ranking Minority Member or their designee. I am asking unanimous consent that all other Members’ opening statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted to the Subcommittee Clerk by 5 p.m. today. Hearing no objection, so ordered. I am also going to ask for unanimous consent for Congressman Luja´n and Congresswoman Haaland to sit on the dais and partici- pate in this morning’s hearing. Hearing no objection, so ordered. STATEMENT OF THE HON. ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, A REP- RESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Mr. LOWENTHAL The