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Busted Pipeline in Texas Impacts Sensitive Species Habitat in New Mexico

SANTA FE, NM – A pipeline failure in Texas is impacting a portion of the Delaware River in Southeast New Mexico where efforts have been underway to try to reestablish a species of freshwater mussel that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently proposed to list as an endangered species.

State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn is encouraging State Land Office lessees in the region to enroll in the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the Texas hornshell mussel and four other state-listed aquatic species to help prevent future threats to the species’ survival.

Produced water flows through the underground pipe that ruptured August 1, 2017, in Culberson County, Texas, spewing up to 18,000 barrels, or 756,000 gallons, of salt water and hydrocarbons into the Delaware River. The Delaware flows northeastward into New Mexico where it converges with the Pecos River, which turns south and drains into Red Bluff Reservoir in Reeves County, Texas.

The Texas hornshell mussel, Rio Grande River cooter, gray redhorse, blue sucker, and Pecos springsnail are state-listed threatened or endangered species and the mussel has been proposed for federal Endangered Species Act protection. The State Land Office owns 40 acres of State Trust Lands directly on the Delaware and within mussel habitat, as well as another 40 acres along the Pecos, downstream of the confluence with the Delaware that would have been impacted by the spill, but is not occupied habitat. All other riverfront property along the Delaware appears to be federal lands.

“This incident spoiled a significant waterway and emphasizes the need for a CCAA, which will spur conservation efforts and with any luck keep the Texas hornshell mussel from being listed,” said Commissioner Dunn. “The decision to extend the deadline for making the decision on whether to list the mussel works in our favor.”

The USFWS last week announced a six-month extension for the final listing determination, as the agency is seeking additional information from the public and scientific community.

In his written comments on the proposed listing, Commissioner Dunn noted that the USFWS failed to conduct sufficient studies of mussel populations in Mexico to warrant listing it as endangered pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. The commissioner also urged the USFWS to recognize conservation measures by the State Land Office and others as sufficient to maintain the mussel without listing the aquatic species as endangered.

When the USFWS announced in August of 2016 that it intended to list the Texas hornshell mussel as endangered, and that it was accepting public comments regarding the proposed listing, the State Land Office applied for a USFWS enhancement of survival permit pertaining to the mussel and the four other aquatic species found in the Black, Delaware, and Pecos rivers in Southeast New Mexico.

Accompanying the application is a draft CCAA, under which the State Land Office and participating oil, gas, and grazing lessees implementing conservation measures to benefit the species would be exempt from penalties arising from incidental harm to the species from their activities. Under the CCAA, lessees would be able to manage their land as outlined in their lease agreements; would not be subject to overreaching land use restrictions; nor would they be subject to criminal penalties should any habitat damage occur.

Some conservation measures include avoiding construction and drilling activities in certain areas; ceasing of pumping if water levels in the Black or Delaware rivers drop below a certain threshold; reducing sediment in the rivers through erosion control efforts; and, avoiding low water crossings when other routes are available.

“So far, our lessees have been responsive to our efforts, which will aid in sensitive species recovery and allow the State Land Office to continue to generate revenue for education,” said Commissioner Dunn. “My office is available to assist lessees with enrolling in the CCAA and determining which conservation measures they could implement to benefit the species.”

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