Milestone Environmental Services LLC has expanded its energy waste sequestration and cleanup efforts in the northern Delaware formation of the Permian Basin, with the opening of its first New Mexico-based liquid oilfield waste facility.
“American oil and gas is critical to powering the nation and the world, and Milestone is committed to cleaning up energy by supporting our customers with responsible, environmentally friendly solutions for energy waste management and disposal,” said CEO Gabriel Rio.
According to Houston-based Milestone, traditional methods of energy waste disposal often entail dumping waste into open reserve pits near the drilling site or spreading directly on nearby land to be tilled into soil. Conversely, Milestone uses slurry injection wells encased in layers of steel and cements them in place.
In 2021, Milestone estimated it sequestered about 276,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in slurry waste.
“Milestone’s expansion into New Mexico is a significant achievement and natural fit for our organization,” Rio said. “The state of New Mexico is committed to protecting the environment, and Milestone’s sustainable, carbon-negative solution for the safe, secure, and permanent sequestration of energy waste aligns very well with the state’s rigorous environmental standards.”
Battle Axe, the company’s newest facility outside Carlsbad, NM, is Milestone’s first location outside of Texas. It also represents New Mexico’s first slurry injection site that accepts used drilling fluids, flowback, produced saltwater, tank bottoms, and other exploration and production (E&P) waste streams, according to Milestone.
Battle Axe also marks Milestone’s ninth operational facility in the Lower 48 and its seventh in the Permian Basin. The independent waste services provider also has facilities covering the Eagle Ford and the Haynesville Shale.
