A looming wave of abandoned wells threatens to leave taxpayers in Texas and New Mexico on the hook for almost $1 billion in cleanup. (via @grist & @texasobserver)
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Luis Carlos Castillo Cervantes’ nickname, “El Dragón,” makes him sound like a ruthless drug trafficker. His alias’ roots, however, are in the fairly mundane business he was known for in Mexico: He had the country’s exclusive license to lease a popular brand of road paving equipment. The machines, which scrape up and shred old asphalt as they pave roads, belch dark clouds of smoke. Hence, “El Dragón,” “the Dragon,” or “the King of Dragons,” as he’s also known.
Castillo built his business empire by being generous, including sending politicians duffel bags full of cash. Working with state governments in Mexico, Castillo seemed to find it almost impossible to do business without paying bribes. It was later revealed that he’d spent millions lining the pockets of officials across the country by inflating the value of his contracts to cover the added expenses. With money rolling in, he did what so many successful businessmen from northern Mexico do: He moved to
. Support comes from the Pulitzer Center.
The fracking boom in the Permian Basin which straddles West Texas and southeastern New Mexico largely coincided with Republican control of much of New Mexico’s state government. Many of those elected to office in the early years of the shale rush promptly began dismantling barriers to extracting the most oil and gas at the cheapest price: Soon after winning the governorship in 2010, Republican Susana Martinez shuffled key employees in the environment department into positions where they had little expertise. During her eight-year tenure, the state legislature slashed the budget for the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD), which oversees the oil and gas industry, by 25 percent. By 2018, half of all inspection and compliance positions were vacant.