Interior Expected to Reverse Fracking Ban Around Chaco Canyon

Oil and gas drilling is expected to be allowed around New Mexico’s historic Chaco Canyon under a pending Interior Department order, according to the state’s Congressional delegation.

The order will reverse the Biden administration’s drilling ban around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwest New Mexico, which conservation groups and some Native American tribes have been fighting to protect from fracking, according to the delegation’s statement released late Friday.

An Interior Department spokesperson declined to comment. The agency has not yet made an announcement or updated its website with a secretary’s order on Chaco Canyon.

The Department withdrew federal minerals ...