"But that began to change in 2015, when oil and gas drillers started fracking operations in the state's northwest corner, known as the Greater Chaco Landscape. Soon, Atencio's grandmother's land was surrounded by noise and air pollution. In 2019, both the land and the water beneath it were contaminated by massive spills that leaked thousands of gallons of oil. Once-abundant plants, including traditional medicinal herbs, no longer grew on the land, and rare birds and wildlife were disappearing, too."
""The rights that we have as Indigenous people to free, informed, prior consent are being violated," Atencio said. "We've never had people from the government come and say, 'This is what's going to happen to your land and water.'""
Mario Atencio (Diné) remembers his grandmother's simple Navajo lifestyle in Counselor, New Mexico, where she raised dozens of animals on lush green property. Fracking began in 2015 across the Greater Chaco Landscape, bringing noise and air pollution. In 2019 massive oil spills contaminated both land and groundwater, killing traditional medicinal plants and reducing rare bird and wildlife populations. Atencio filed a lawsuit as lead plaintiff alleging the New Mexico Legislature and state agencies actively harmed Indigenous communities and failed to uphold constitutional duties to prevent pollution and secure free, prior, informed consent. The New Mexico Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, with precedents including Held v. Montana and a recent Hawai'i Indigenous climate victory.
Read at High Country News
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