In 2014, NASA announced they’d found that the largest plume of methane gas in North America was right here in New Mexico. At the time, scientists didn’t know exactly where the methane was coming from – but now they’ve completed some research an

Gas Flaring Does More Than Light Up the Skies

Sep 12th, 2015 4m 13s

Away from any cities or streetlights, the nights here at Chaco Culture National Historic Park are dark. Looking up, it takes a little longer than usual to spot even the most familiar constellations. That’s because there are so many more stars v

Enviro Group Says Methane Rules Could Curb Smog

Aug 19th, 2015 1m 7s

The Obama Administration recently proposed new standards that would reduce methane emissions from natural gas operations across the country, and environmental advocates say the new rules could have some health benefits for people living near ga

Drilling Opponents Want BLM To Consider Cumulative Effects

Jul 1st, 2015 4m 11s

There used to be big talk about a big boom coming to the San Juan Basin. Industry thought they’d sink 20,000 new oil wells. Companies wanted to take advantage of oil deposits squeezed into tiny fissures in tight shale deep underground.

Oil And Gas Technology Drives Farmington Economy

Jun 8th, 2015 3m 59s

Thanks to technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, New Mexico is one of the top natural gas producers in the world – 27 th according to the latest annual numbers from 2012 just released by the American Petroleum Institute

The Hunt For The Source Of Four Corners Methane

Apr 24th, 2015 4m 2s

Scientists published a paper on methane levels across the globe last year—and their satellite images show the largest methane anomaly in the United States hovers over northwestern New Mexico. Now, some of the nation’s top scientists have come h

Pipeline Plan Ignites Controversy

Feb 11th, 2015 3m 58s

UPDATE 2/12: All told, the BLM ended up receiving about 30,000 comments on the proposed Piñon Pipeline. That's according to Victoria Barr of the BLM's Farmington Field Office who discussed oil and gas development in northwestern New Mexico on t

Oil Industry Creeps Up On Chaco Communities

Feb 9th, 2015 54m 16s

KUNM Call In Show 2/12 8a: Oil and gas development may be moving closer to Chaco Canyon National Historical Park and the many tribal communities in northwestern New Mexico. R esidents there, along with archaeologists and advocates, are question

Voices from Drilling Deep: Etta Arviso

Jan 26th, 2015 3m 11s

Etta Arviso is one of the Diné – or, Navajo – women who I met last year in Counselor, New Mexico. She is an “allottee ,” which means her family lives on land adjacent to the Navajo reservation that is held in trust by the United States governme

Voices From Drilling Deep: Mark Martinez

Jan 23rd, 2015 2m 2s

In October, Pueblo of Zuni Councilman Mark Martinez and I viewed Chaco Canyon National Historical Park from above during an ecoFlight tour. Martinez was interested in flying above the park to see the remains of ancient buildings and roads. And

Voices From Drilling Deep: Mike Eisenfeld

Jan 21st, 2015 1m 12s

While reporting this series, it's really easy to end up with more voices and moments than can ever be plopped into the four-minute feature stories that air on KUNM . That's why o ver the course of this project, I'll be sharing some of those mom

"...Like A War Zone": Worries About Increased Oil Drilling

Jan 15th, 2015 4m 14s

Sarah Jane White’s walking to the top of a sandy hill near the eastern edge of the Navajo reservation. Along the way, she points to footprints in the sand. Her 4-year-old grandson, Albino, crouches to look. She shows him the prints of a horse,

Archaeologists Worry As Drilling Approaches Chaco

Dec 16th, 2014 3m 36s

The oil and gas industry in New Mexico is a big deal. It supports the state budget with hundreds of millions of dollars each year. But there are impacts, too – on air quality, water, public health and even cultural sites. In the first installme

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