{"id":10269,"date":"2020-07-22T21:10:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T02:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ft-berthold-tribes-to-benefit-from-methane-pollution-control-order\/"},"modified":"2020-07-22T21:10:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T02:10:52","slug":"ft-berthold-tribes-to-benefit-from-methane-pollution-control-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ft-berthold-tribes-to-benefit-from-methane-pollution-control-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Ft. Berthold tribes to benefit from methane pollution control order"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Judge reinstates federal rule to curb flaring of methane and other waste fracking gases hazardous to health in the Bakken oil field, shown here at night. Photo by Talli Nauman<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MANDAREE, N. D. \u2013 Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation residents, who live at the center of the oil fields in the Bakken Formation here, steered a virtual welcome wagon to the courthouse steps July 16, to thank a federal judge for an order cancelling a two-year-long rollback of protections against leaked and flared frack gases at wellheads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s ruling is a victory for people who are bearing the brunt of federal and tribal oil-and-gas development,\u201d said Lisa Deville, vice chair of Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights, or POWER, which is one of many organizations nationwide that joined states in suing over the rollback of pollution controls.<\/p>\n

In September of 2018 the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, announced the rollback of the 2016 regulations for Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation, commonly called the Methane Rule or the Waste Prevention Rule.<\/p>\n

The rule had been approved on the basis of BLM parent Interior Department data showing that companies wasted an estimated 462 billion cubic feet of gas on public and tribal lands through venting, flaring and leaks between 2009 and 2015 \u2014 enough gas to serve more than 6.2 million homes for a year.<\/p>\n

The primary component of that gas is methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more powerful than its closest competitor, carbon dioxide. Other wellhead pollutants that are leaked and vented contribute to smog formation, causing respiratory problems. Some frack waste pollutants, like benzene, are known carcinogens.<\/p>\n

Northern District of California U.S. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rebuffed the agency for its refusal to investigate the public health impacts of rescinding this rule on the people living near oil-and-gas facilities, especially those on tribal lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cBLM has failed to satisfy its \u2018hard look\u2019 obligation under the National Environmental Policy Act with respect to the rescission\u2019s impact on public health, both generally, and specifically on tribal communities,\u201d she wrote. She ordered the rule be reinstated within 90 days.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, DeVille observed, every day that passes, \u201cinvisible methane spills impact our people\u2019s health, contributing to asthma and other respiratory health issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

In reaching a decision, the judge acknowledged evidence showing that the environmental impacts of wasted frack gas are an environmental justice issue for Native Americans living in low-income communities.<\/p>\n

She relied on case law \u201cconcluding that tribal communities experience disproportionate health risks from oil-and-gas emissions because they are more likely to live within 0.5 miles of an oil-and-gas well, and that Native Americans living on tribal land in North Dakota, New Mexico, and Utah experience more than double each state\u2019s average poverty rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge also relied on DeVille\u2019s testimony at public hearings for the establishment of the Methane Rule dating back six years. When the rule took effect, some 11,000 people lived within a mile of a flare in North Dakota, DeVille testified.<\/p>\n

The judge noted that \u201cthe record contains ample evidence of regional impacts, especially on tribal populations, which was ignored,\u201d with the recission.<\/p>\n

A recipient of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition \u201cArc of Justice Award\u201d for outstanding environmental justice achievements and a member of the Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, headquartered at Ft. Berthold, Deville told the Native Sun News Today that when U.S. President Donald Trump came into office he rescinded his predecessor Barack Obama\u2019s environmental rules \u201cto make it easier for oil-and-gas industry to extract and construct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The states of California and New Mexico immediately sued the Trump Administration over the rule rollback, which was a direct result of POTUS Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs, Executive Order 13783, Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, and Secretarial Order 3349, American Energy Independence.<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s order is \u201cgreat news,\u201d DeVille said. \u201cThank you to all who have made this a victory and for your persistence, dedication and for never giving up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Robin Cooley, an Earthjustice attorney representing the tribal and conservation citizen groups in the lawsuit, said in their welcome-wagon statement:\u00a0 \u201cMost importantly, the judge said the Administration cannot ignore the impacts on health and well-being of the people who live near oil-and-gas facilities. This is a resounding win for American taxpayers, the environment, and the communities most at-risk from this industry,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, the courts are confirming that the Trump Administration can\u2019t just scrap environmental protections and ignore its responsibility to hold polluters accountable and protect our communities from toxic pollution,\u201d said Kelly Martin, director of the plaintiff Sierra Club\u2019s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s decision is a win for science-based decision-making and the climate, at a time when the Trump Administration is trying every way possible to give polluters a free pass,\u201d said Alison Flint, senior legal director for The Wilderness Society.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited by this ruling because strong air pollution rules for the federal wells on our ranch means I may be able to spend more time with my family in Montana again,\u201d said Laurie Wilson, a member of the plaintiff Western Organization of Resource Councils.<\/p>\n

The 2016 Methane Rule was the first update to BLM\u2019s standards to reduce waste from oil-and-gas development on public and tribal lands in more than 35 years. The rule requires industry to use proven, low-cost technologies and practices to reduce venting and flaring and to fix leaks in infrastructure. It also saves taxpayers millions of dollars by requiring companies to pay royalties when they waste gas on public lands.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Judge reinstates federal rule to curb flaring of methane and other waste fracking gases hazardous to health in the Bakken oil field, shown here at night. Photo by Talli Nauman MANDAREE, N. D. \u2013 Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation residents, who live at the center of the oil fields in <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> July 22, 2020<\/p>\n

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