Milestone Environmental Services LLC, the largest independent provider of oilfield waste disposal services in the U.S., said Sept. 15 that the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (NMOCD) has approved the company’s permit for an oilfield waste slurry injection facility near Jal, in Lea County.

The facility, the first of its kind permitted in New Mexico, required multiple permits from the NMOCD, including a permit to inject oilfield waste and a solid waste management permit. These permits mark Milestone’s first move into the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin, the heart of the most prolific oil and gas production basin in the United States.

Milestone’s proprietary slurry injection process is both an economically efficient and environmentally superior method for oilfield waste disposal. Using this process, Milestone captures drilling, completion, and production waste and reinjects it back into the earth through a network of facilities located throughout the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale.

The reinjection of hydrocarbon-contaminated waste is a form of permanent carbon sequestration, and thus materially reduces the carbon footprint of oil and gas operations. In addition to reducing carbon footprint, Milestone’s disposal methods enable E&P operators to avoid soil and groundwater contamination risks associated with onsite disposal methods that dispose of waste above the water table.

The permitted location is on Highway 128 just 14 miles west of Jal, New Mexico, in the Delaware Basin, providing New Mexico operators with the opportunity to dispose of oilfield waste liquids using this carbon negative and environmentally advanced solution.

“Milestone is proud to partner with the State of New Mexico and the petroleum industry to provide our carbon-negative disposal solution to oil and gas operators in the state,” Gabriel Rio, Milestone president and CEO, said. “In the severely depressed 2020 energy environment, our customers have an urgent need to simultaneously reduce their costs while working to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Milestone is proud to be part of the answer to both challenges.”

Approval of the permit is the culmination of years of development efforts by the Milestone team, and is a valuable addition to Milestone’s unrivaled network of patented slurry facilities across the Permian Basin.

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