近距离内射合集

In 2026, the 近距离内射合集 published two articles about the Questa hydrogen facility and solar array. While the second article discussed water and transparency issues, neither addressed the other major concerns held by locals, New Mexicans and tourists.

During planning, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative told elected officials and the media that the hydrogen pilot facility would be built at Chevron鈥檚 superfund mine site east of Questa and that it would use reclaimed mine wastewater for hydrogen electrolysis. Instead, without public input, KCEC shifted the facility to Chevron鈥檚 superfund tailings property in Questa between the Guadalupe Mountains and Sangre de Cristo Range, outside the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 superfund remediation area, and chose to use an existing groundwater well on Chevron property.

In January 2026, KCEC completed an environmental assessment, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a Finding of No Significant Impact. The EA described a 320-acre facility including the hydrogen production plant, fuel cells, compressors, storage tanks, transfer substation, transmission lines and a solar array. The 298-acre solar array area was excluded from the EA. Key biological, archaeological, health, safety, waste and other industrial impact studies remained unfinished. The public was denied a comment period, and no realistic rendering of the proposed plant was provided.

In February, with little public notice, the village of Questa created a heavy industrial zone adjacent to residential zones and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The decision did not adequately assess risks to homes, schools, acequias, watersheds, farmland, recreation areas and wildlife. Questa area residents organized to oppose the facility.

In May, KCEC leased 242 acres and deep-well access from Chevron. To meet federal funding deadlines, it began excavating the full area, including the solar array area needed for 84,000 panels. The proposed hydrogen facility lacked several critical permits. Heavy equipment destroyed mostly native habitat during nesting and birthing season.

By June, over 1,100 local signatures were collected on a paper petition. In response to local opposition, the Questa Village Council removed the funding for the facility's solar array from Questa鈥檚 Capital Improvement Plan priorities list.

The Office of the State Engineer has not yet issued a change-of-use permit for the 523-foot well intended as its main water source for electrolyzers that split water molecules to produce hydrogen gas. The second phase of the water study by Glorieta Geoscience is still underway. Environmental impacts of extracting 47 to 100 acre-feet of water annually (approximately 15 to 32 million gallons per year) from an important aquifer have not been fully evaluated. Local communities are raising alarms over how this extraction will affect the villages and traditional acequias that rely on both shallow and deep aquifers, which are part of the highly complex Upper Rio Grande groundwater basin.

Fundamental inefficiencies of hydrogen production have not been addressed. Producing 1 kilogram of hydrogen requires at least 9 kilograms of water, and the solar-to-hydrogen-to-electricity loop retains only about 30% to 40% of the original solar energy. 

Two Questa-area acequias sued the USDA Rural Utilities Service in August over concerns that the hydrogen facility will harm their communities and aquifers. While the federal district court denied an initial temporary restraining order, it held an expedited hearing on Sept. 3 and is currently weighing the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction.

Many people in the Questa area are rightly concerned about their health, safety and the negative environmental impacts of the entire facility. The planners and sponsors of this flawed, not-so-green heavy industrial hydrogen plant need to go back to the drawing board and find a better solution: one that considers Questa area residents, tourists, the importance of conserving water in an arid region and maintaining the unique environmental beauty of the Questa area in northern New Mexico.

Elisabeth Dicharry is a property owner in Questa.