Although The North Dakota Department of Health is not actively involved in overseeing the clean up of the Slawson blowout, Kris Roberts, who was on the initial Van Hook site inspection, responded by email to questions about soil testing and the subsequent follow-up.
The incident occurred on Sovereign Native American Land. We respect the sovereignty of the MHA Nation. We do not have direct jurisdiction there. We have been in liaison with the MHA Nation, US EPA, US Corp of Engineers, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (which have various jurisdictions within MHA Nation boundaries), and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, which have an interest, as they are the managers of the Wildlife Management Area that was impacted. The MHA Nation and the State of North Dakota are neighbors, and as neighbors, the (North Dakota) Department of Health stands ready to assist or advise our sister agency upon request. Our mission is protecting public health and the environment, and we share that responsibility with our Native American neighbors. We are following what has, and is being done, in the event that MHA Nation requests our assistance or advice.
The MHA Nation appears to have a friend in a State agency that, unfortunately, does not have direct jurisdiction over environmental concerns. At least six tribal and federal agencies as well as the private interests of the Slawson Exploration Company were directly involved in the blowout of Lunker Federal #2-33-4H and its aftermath.
A minimal analysis of the events and inter-agency communications resulting from the Van Hook blowout reveals the complicated chain of communication that results from shared jurisdictions: state, local, and federal in Indian Country. Without taking into account the social, environmental and cultural concerns raised by oil and gas development on Indian lands, it is clear that the cautionary chapter has not been closed on Lunker Federal #2-33-4H.
Fort Berthold is a prime exploration area for the Bakken Formation. The ND Oil and Gas Production Report for June 2013 provides production data. The Tribal Oil & Gas January 2013 Financial Report was published by the MHA Nation in the Four Bears Newsletter.
How has this money benefited the residents? Why are tribal members suggesting in social media that they have no say in what is happening?
The dichotomy is clear. Will development be completely unmanageable and destructive? Is the unfinished story of Lunker #2-33-4H simply an example of inter-agency conflicts, and communication issues? Or, is there malfeasance and inequity involved at tribal and federal levels?
The future of Fort Berthold lies in the hope that relief can indeed be granted before the Nations face a complete social breakdown due to runaway development, environmental degradation, and the loss of ancient spiritual and cultural ties to the land.
Historical Trauma
The discharge of Bakken crude into Lake Sakakawea, besides threatening an already endangered water supply, represents renewed historical trauma as the Tribes face spiritual and cultural insults to their way of life.
Historical memory fades with time and unless you are a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes you may not know that the shimmering waters of Lake Sakakawea represent the first body blow to tribal society.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 awarded over 12 million acres to the Three Affiliated Tribes-- the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nations. A separate 1886 treaty reduced the holdings to less than one million acres that included the nations' most sacred sites and rich agricultural and ranching lands that formed the core of their economy. The tribes were successful in utilizing the rich Missouri River soil to the extent that they were "in sight of complete economic independence," according to the 1949 House Subcommittee on Public Lands.
1949 was also the year that the federal government initiated the Garrison Dam Project, which dammed the Missouri River and damned the people.
156,000 acres of prime agricultural land were flooded, along with sacred sites, homes and burial grounds. Lake Sakakawea is a reservoir and did not exist before the completion of the Garrison Dam project in 1956. Through a combination of lawsuits and Congressional Acts, the Three Affiliated tribes had just begun to recover from the historical trauma and insult of the flooding when fracking offered access to the shale oil locked in the Bakken Formation.
Raymond Cross, a law professor at The University of Montana School of Law, asks the existential question. Will the Three Affiliated Tribes "prove to be development's victim or its beneficiary?"
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