EPA considering air quality standards for Fort Berthold
EPA considering air quality standards for Fort Berthold
By Jerry W. Kram
The Environmental Protection Agency held a hearing in the Hidatsa Room at the Four Bears Casino and Lodge to get public input on allowing the Three Affiliated Tribes to regulate chemical emissions from oil wells on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
The hearing was called to allow residents and companies on the reservation to comment on the implementation of the new rule. The hearing was run in two sessions, one on Wednesday afternoon and another in the evening. The afternoon session had 19 witnesses sign in, many of them representing oil and gas companies. Twenty people got up to testify in the evening sessions, most of them residents of New Town and Mandaree.
Diedre Rothery of the EPA laid out the rules for the hearing. She told the crowd the EPA representatives were only there to take comments. They were not there to explain the regulation. If people wanted more information on the regulation, the would need to download a copy from the internet or get a copy from their tribal representative. The regulation was published in the Federal Register and is 20 pages long.
