Pawnee Nation Executive Director Andrew Knife Chief didn’t feel the latest earthquake to shake Pawnee and his tribal headquarters. But it didn’t take long for him to be awakened by phone calls and messages that a 4.5 magnitude quake had struck the area Tuesday night.
“We had some more plaster fall down, we had dust on our tables and furniture again and some of the cracks have gotten bigger,” he told OK Energy Today. “Nothing substantial, nothing that’s going to change I don’t think the integrity of the work space, but our worry is we are having this every single day. And at some point, these old buildings aren’t going to be able to tolerate it any more.”
The conversation leads to growing concerns that the state and federal agencies are not communicating with his tribe as much as he thinks they should.
“We’re gonna find ourselves in a continuous cycle of oil development within the jurisdiction and the tribe having to play catchup and then the tribe having to push back against the state of Oklahoma or our federal partners, and we don’t wanta be in that position,” said Knife Chief in assessing what might happen.
What might actions would the tribe consider?
“Well, I’m sure there’s all kinds or actions the tribe can take, we have an attorney general here at the nation and I’m sure that he’s going to explore all kinds of options.”
He makes it clear, his Nation is not interested in harming the oil and gas industry.
“I like to drive. I like plastic,” he chuckled in relating to how the industry affects everyone.
But he’s still frustrated that the Pawnee Nation is not included in as much communication regarding plans to control injection wells as he would appreciate getting from the Corporation Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’ve been very proactive in calling out to our federal trust partners and the state of Oklahoma, saying that ,’ hey we want everybody to take a deep breath and sit down at the table and let’s talk about what’s going on’—— Unfortunately, none of that has been that successful yet.”
Listen to part of Jerry Bohnen’s interview with Andrew Knife Chief.
