Now’s the time to protect health of children living near oil and gas wells

It took a price war between Russia and OPEC to slow production. Coronavirus later tightened the noose on the oil industry. Billions of people staying at home don’t need fuel for travel. Marathon Oil President Lee Tillman said in a statement that the multibillion-dollar corporation would be taking “second quarter frack holidays” in the Bakken due to “a highly volatile and uncertain environment.”

A free fall in demand for oil is bad for some, but good news for our most vulnerable populations. A frack holiday for the oil industry is a frack-free holiday for children living in the Bakken. Before the coronavirus hit, our kids on the Fort Berthold Reservation here in North Dakota were already breathing volatile organic compounds from fracking. Some will get a reprieve with more than 5,000 wells shut down due to stay-at-home orders for most.

Shutting down production means a reduction in the harmful effects of fracking and natural gas burning which both release toxins into the air, land and water. Hundreds of studies – I refer to a number of them in this story — are compiled in the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking.

Pregnant women, infants and kids are particularly vulnerable. Harmful effects of fracking include a litany of health problems for moms and kids. Some of the health threats include leukemia, pre-term births, reproductive risks, birth defects, nosebleeds, vision problems, nausea, rashes, and hypertension.

At least six percent of the U.S. population—17.6 million Americans—now live within a mile of an active oil or gas well, a number that includes 1.4 million young children. Evidence exists for fracking-related health problems across the United States and Canada.

Drilling operators use an “unconventional” process called hydraulic fracking. They pump proprietary, toxic chemical blends, sand and water at least two miles deep in the ground to wrestle oil from shale beds. Then they pump the oil, chemically-laced water and TENORM, technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material, from the earth back up to the earth’s surface where it spills or is burned into the air through natural gas flares.

While we need more research specific to Indigenous communities, the scientific compendium notes a new pilot study “reported elevated levels of barium and strontium in urine and hair samples of Indigenous women living in an area of intense fracking activity in northeastern British Columbia.” The trace metals, known to be released during hydraulic fracturing, “shows harm to fertility and reproductive success from exposure to oil and gas operations.”

In March, the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children had been scheduled to meet in Scottsdale, Ariz. The meeting was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We want to thank all those Tribal Leaders and community members who were planning to attend the hearing for their commitment to Native children,” said Gloria O’Neil, commission chair, in a statement.

I arrived in Arizona before the regional public hearing was officially postponed until at least Sept. 30. Thankfully, I was able to meet with some of the commissioners who, like me, arrived early. I addressed the need for increased regulations and protection for Native children who live near oil and gas development. The public can contact the commissioners at asbwsnc@gmail.com.

The Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold lacks protocols on protecting Native mothers, infants and children who live near oil and gas development. Therefore, it’s imperative an outside entity take measures to protect them. Many of these rural families simply can’t relocate. Where are they going to go?

Here are some recommended steps for the Spotted Bear and Soboleff Commission: Establish mandatory dust control; put a moratorium on fracking and flaring until an environmental impact statement is completed; install mandatory sounds walls and light pollution at existing well pad sites; ban all fracking within one mile of family homes; develop and fund a relocation plan for families with children; require federal, state and tribal environmental protection agencies to test and study TENORM, technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material, in flaring and fracking.

My son and his family – wife, two girls and a newborn — live about one-quarter mile from a well site with four pump jacks. A pediatrician wrote a to-whom-it-may-concern letter and advised my then-pregnant daughter-in-law to relocate during fracking.

The family has already endured five wells drilled behind their home on a single well pad site. In March, more wells were drilled. They were supposed to be fracked – injected with water and chemicals — in May. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Marathon Oil to postpone fracking until fall.

There is no tribal program here on Fort Berthold that protects the unborn, infants or children from the oil industry. My grandson was born three weeks early. A 2015 study report states that pregnant women who live near active fracking operations in Pennsylvania were at a 40 percent increased risk of giving birth prematurely.

In 2017, a “Colorado study found higher rates of leukemia among children and young adults living in areas dense with oil and gas wells, while a Yale University research team reported that carcinogens involved in fracking operations had the potential to contaminate both air and water in nearby communities in ways that may increase the risk of childhood leukemia.”

One research team concluded “a need for public health prevention techniques, well-designed studies, and stronger state and national regulatory standards.” All these measures must include action to protect Indian Country’s expectant mothers, infants and children. It shouldn’t take a global pandemic to give vulnerable young people a frack-free holiday.