A tribal grassroots organization that urged their local government to ban hydraulic fracturing from happening on their reservation proved to be successful in their endeavors.
At an open public meeting Tuesday morning, the Turtle Mountain Tribal Council passed a resolution that would ban hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" on the reservation.
Anticipating that the oil industry, which has enveloped much of the western part of the state, would eventually make its way to Rolette County, the group, "No Fracking Way Turtle Mountain Tribe," presented a resolution to the tribal council on Nov. 18.
"It was like a primer, Fracking 101," Carol Davis, a member of the group, said of the presentation.
The proposed resolution called for the council to protect "Mother Earth from any pollutants that may cause harm to its citizens, land, water, and air."
Fracking, which involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals to release deep-shale natural gas, would most definitely contribute to the contamination of water in the Shell Valley aquifer, the group reasoned. That aquifer serves as the tribe's main source for fresh water, the proposed resolution stated.
"I know there's an oil boom and it's providing a lot of jobs, but we can't risk contaminating our water on the Turtle Mountain Reservation for the sake of money," Davis said, adding that only a few would get rich from the fracking process, while the remaining population would be left to languish with contaminated water.
The resolution is by all means not a slam on oil development, but "it's the way the oil industries use fracking as a process" that the group takes issue to, Davis said.
While not all of the chemicals are hazardous, there are a few that could do damage, she said. Davis alluded to a group member who produced a four-page list of chemicals used in the fracking process.
"There's one of them, by itself, that just a small amount can contaminate millions of gallons of water," Davis said. "In the fracking process, they can use anywhere from 30,000 to 600,000 gallons of 'mud,' they call it. Mixed in this mud is a 'chemical cocktail,' and this is 2 percent of the mud. They take the clean water and mix these chemicals."
Davis referred to the FRAC Act (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act), which is currently pending in Congress. Dunn County is among the areas included in an EPA study related to this ACT, she added.
"The aquifer is contaminated and the oil companies are saying it has always been contaminated," Davis said of Dunn County, where fracking has been going on for three or four years. "They leave these communities holding the bag because they can't prove that those chemicals were not in the water (already)."
To prevent Rolette County from facing a similar face, the group pushed for the resolution, which in its conclusion suggested that "the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa prohibits in perpetuity any hydraulic fracturing (fracking) or any other process that is toxic on lands adjoining the Shell Valley aquifer and water resources, lakes, underground springs, and wetlands where tribal citizens reside on or near the Turtle Mountain Reservation; and wetlands where tribal citizens reside on or near the Turtle Mountain Reservation."
Davis said that the tribal council's open public meeting to discuss the matter Tuesday was a packed house. "There's a lot of interest in preserving our water," she noted.
"I was so proud of our leaders this morning," Davis said, later that afternoon. "It was unanimous, and the chair gave an introduction that this is serious business and we have to take care of our water."
The resolution, however, was not unscathed in the passing process. In the Tuesday issue of The Minot Daily News, it was announced that the Turtle Mountain BIA would sell oil and gas leases on nearly 45,000 acres of allotted Indian lands in Rolette County. An amendment was made to the resolution that stated that these bids be kept sealed until all oil companies who placed bids are informed about the fracking ban, Davis explained.
Originally, the bids were to be opened on Dec. 14.
"They have a right to cancel the bid," she added.
Davis said she believes that this is the first time that a tribal government has banned fracking from taking place on tribal land.
The group, which has gained many supporters as evident by the full house at the Tuesday meeting and by the 554 fans on the group's Facebook page, will continue to "get together and be vigilant" with the BIA, who will need to also sign off on the resolution, Davis said. "They have to honor the sovereignty of the tribe...and respect the fact that our tribal government has spoken," she added.
"Many of us are in this because we know that we have all these little ones," Davis said, referring to the younger generation. "All of these kids, if we destroy our water, where are they going to go? Where are they going to live? We've raised our families here. If we destroy our water, what then? What do we tell our kids?"
One such member of the younger generation, 9-year-old Christian LaRocque, is well aware of the problems that would be presented if the reservation was without clean water. At the presentation on Nov. 18, he presented his own rap song.
"It is all about the water and all the animals walk into the yard, we need some water we turn on the hose, there is no clean water, so we ask the chairman, we need some clean water to keep our aunts uncles and grandparents and brothers and sisters safe, we are doing this for our people because Jesus made us," he said.
"Christian set the tone for us and helped demonstrate that protecting our water is about protecting the water for our children and grandchildren," Davis said, adding that after his performance, LaRocque urged the council to keep the water safe.