North Dakota’s oil industry has hardly been a model of best practice. Since 2012, there have been three hundred spills, and not one was reported to the public. It took a pipeline releasing thousands of gallons into a farmer’s field, discovered by the farmer himself nearly two weeks later, to start an investigation.
Environmentally, the oil industry isn’t good news at the best of times, but a combination of careless safety procedures and management cover-ups spell trouble. Worse, most of the planning is left up to the companies themselves.
This shows no justice to locals, who of course are the ones affected.
It’s time North Dakota cracked down on the oil companies. Local and state government should not be allowing massive corporations to pretty much do whatever they please at the expense of local communities.
Tell the state governor to assume responsibility for the oil industry.
We the undersigned ask that you ensure that the North Dakota oil industry becomes properly regulated. Hundreds of spills being kept quiet within a two-year period is ridiculous and hardly the behavior you’d expect from a responsibly run industry.
At the moment, it seems the oil industry is posing serious risks to the environment and to the public, with insufficient oversight. Far too much of the process is left in the hands of the companies themselves, and they have already proven they do not always act in the best interests of the public.
It’s time state and local government perform the tasks they were elected for, and not allow massive corporations to pretty much do whatever they please.
Please see that this happens.
Thank you for your attention.
