Don't Frack Chaco Canyon
As fracking booms across our state, federal officials are making decisions right now about this dirty drilling near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, home to ancient pueblos that are more than 1,000 years old.
An incredible ancient landscape is at risk
Chaco Canyon is an amazing place for hiking, stargazing, and exploring ancient pueblos that are more than a thousand years old. In fact, the pueblos in Chaco Canyon are so important they have been designated a World Heritage site. Unfortunately, oil and gas companies want to frack right outside the national park, which would threaten its sensitive environment with toxic pollution.
A cultural center could become an industrial zone
With well pads, compressors, pipelines, and hundreds of truck trips, allowing the oil and gas industry to set up shop on the doorstep of Chaco Canyon would mean turning this priceless place into an industrial zone. In 2013, the oil and gas industry proposed drilling on more than 19,000 acres near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, including plans to drill less than a quarter-mile from the park.
We can protect Chaco Canyon, but time is running out
Chaco Canyon should be protected, not threatened by this dirty and dangerous drilling process. That’s why Environment New Mexico is calling on our decision-makers to act. Our federal officials have the opportunity to step up and keep Chaco Canyon safe from fracking. But the oil and gas industry is working to block any action.
Your activism and our advocacy are a powerful combination. Our staff have been knocking on doors across the state to educate New Mexicans about what’s at stake. We’re also lobbying in Santa Fe and Washington, D.C., educating lawmakers, and shining a spotlight in the media on the need to protect Chaco Canyon.
The real key to winning this fight is you
With your support, we can stand up to the oil and gas industry and protect this incredible place for generations to come. Sign our petition today.
Key Facts
-
"We don't want Chaco to be an island surrounded by hundreds of wells." - Paul Reed, Archeologist
- Home to the densest and most exceptional concentration of ancient Pueblos in the Southwest, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is in the heart of the Mancos Shale gas drilling area.
- Fracking generates huge amounts of toxic wastewater—including 3 billion gallons of waste, containing benzene and other toxic pollutants, in New Mexico in a single year.
