SANTA FE, N.M.— A fossil fuel industry trade group is pressing New Mexico regulators for the third time to allow the release of toxic oil and gas wastewater into the state’s rivers and onto pastures and irrigated crops.

“This latest attempt by the oil industry to offload its toxic waste on New Mexicans shows a disturbing refusal to take no for an answer,” said Colin Cox, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s zero scientific evidence that dumping treated oil waste into our water or onto our crops is safe for people or the environment. Yet the industry keeps coming back with this zombie request. We’ll keep fighting to make sure this attempt fails as resoundingly as the last ones.”

The Water Access Treatment and Reuse Alliance filed its latest petition last week, seeking broader authorization than its previous attempts — including the use of treated oilfield wastewater on food crops.

The move comes after the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission rejected the industry’s first proposal, filed in 2024, and instead adopted scientifically sound rules that prohibited the discharge of treated toxic waste off the oilfield.

The group then filed a second petition to overturn those environmental and health protections. That request was dismissed late last year after reporting revealed the governor’s office had pressured commissioners to support the industry request.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has repeatedly backed the industry’s efforts, including supporting legislation that would have required the commission to approve fracking wastewater reuse. Lawmakers rejected that bill.

“The commission is under heavy pressure to succumb to the oil industry, but we’re confident that science will prevail and the commissioners will stand firm against political pressure,” said Mario Atencio, a Navajo community advocate. “New Mexicans have been clear that we don’t want toxic fracking waste contaminating our lands or our water.”

A broad coalition of New Mexicans has opposed the industry’s efforts to reuse its oilfield wastewater, pointing to the fact that treatment technology for oil and gas wastewater remains unproven. Researchers have identified more than 1,400 toxic or radioactive pollutants in the waste, and industry has not developed reliable methods to detect or remove them. New Mexico currently lacks water quality standards for many of these pollutants.

“The commission has already ruled there is insufficient scientific support for discharging treated oil and gas waste without threatening public health and the environment,” said Daniel Tso, Navajo Nation leader. “That remains the state of the law and the science. The commission must reject this latest petition.”