The 5.8 magnitude earthquake on Sept. 3 in Pawnee was the so-called “straw that broke the camel’s back” as far as Pawnee Tribal leaders are concerned. So they’ve gone to court, not against oil and gas producers but against two federal agencies that the tribe felt had the responsibility of informing it about oil and gas drilling activities and wastewater injection wells.
The tribe filed suit in Tulsa U.S. District court against the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management. The suit is asking a federal judge to set aside numerous oil and gas leases and drilling permits approved in recent years that it contends “violate both federal and tribal law.”
“The Pawnee Nation has taken the first steps towards asserting our right to protect our natural resources so that future generations will have full enjoyment of them,” said Andrew Knife Chief, Executive Director of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. “Since the very beginning we have only asked that our trustees provide us with adequate notice, recognize our legal authority to assert our constitutional rights as a sovereign nation, and help ensure that irresponsible actors are held accountable for their actions on our land.”
The tribe’s lawsuit accuses the BIA and BLM of violating the National Environmental Policy Act and the federal government’s duties as trustee to the Pawnee Nation. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell was also named as a defendant.
The tribe instituted a moratorium on leasing and hydraulic fracturing approvals in October 2015 but it says the BIA and BLM have not honored the moratorium.
“It bothers us that the Pawnee Nation has asked for a moratorium on the Fracturing process conducted on our lands and have largely been ignored, we have largely been ignored, we have stated that ‘we aren’t against oil and gas production’ but we are certainly against methods which hurt our land base, minerals and water,” added W. Bruce Pratt, President of the Pawnee Nation.