Category: Law, Government, Politics

  If you’ve been following the saga of Jason Halek on my blog for the last four years, you know that on July 31 he was supposed to be sent off to jail for dumping 800,000 gallons of poisonous oilfield brine down an abandoned well south of Dickinson. I last wrote about him on April … Continue reading Halek Sentencing Delayed Again

A couple of months ago I wrote about an oil well pad at the top of the Van Hook boat ramp on Lake Sakakawea. I’ve learned a few things about it since then. First, the basics. There’s a little blue-collar resort community at the top of the Van Hook Arm of Lake Sakakawea, a couple … Continue reading Van Hook Oil Pad Upate

When the Little Missouri Scenic River Commission meets next Wednesday in Dickinson, they could have a cake with ten candles on it to celebrate. It will have been just 20 days shy of ten years since the Commission last met—August 29, 2007. The newly-formed Commission, put together hastily this summer to comply with strict orders … Continue reading The Little Missouri State Scenic River Commission Is Back in Business

For the last 50 years or so, there have been just five places where you can drive your car across a bridge over the Little Missouri State Scenic River: In Marmarth on U.S. Highway 12, on Pacific Avenue in the city of Medora, on I-94 just north of Medora (two bridges, one going each way), … Continue reading The Newest Bridge Across the Little Missouri State Scenic River. What the . . . ?

Of all the sleazy companies to show up in North Dakota’s oil patch in the nearly ten years since the Bakken Boom began, the sleaziest of them all has to be Meridian Energy, the company proposing to build an oil refinery called the Davis Refinery just three miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Here’s why … Continue reading Refinery Company to PSC: “Screw You”

In a major victory for conservationists, and for the North Dakota Bad Lands they work hard to protect, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland of Bismarck ruled this week that the state of North Dakota and four western North Dakota counties have no right to go in and build roads in areas of the Little Missouri … Continue reading A Victory for the Good Guys. And the Bad Lands.

WARNING: In this article I’m going to rip some North Dakota politicians a new one. This isn’t personal, and it isn’t partisan. They’ve got it coming because of malfeasance in office. I’m not going to pull any punches. They deserve it. I know I’ve been pretty critical of some of our state’s leaders lately. Sorry. … Continue reading The Sellout of Van Hook Park

North Dakota’s Little Missouri State Scenic River lost most of its scenic protection this week when Gov. Doug Burgum reversed course and joined the members of his State Water Commission in opening the entire river to industrial water development. Last month, Burgum declared upstream areas of the state’s only official State Scenic River—the areas surrounding … Continue reading The Little Missouri State Scenic River Is in Trouble Again

I'm thinking about my dad, as we all do on Father's Day. He became a father 70 years ago this fall. He was a father to me for 37 years, and to my six younger brothers and sisters for not as long, before he died young, in 1984. I wrote this article about him a … Continue reading Happy Father’s Day, Dad

Here’s a short follow-up to a story I did a couple weeks ago about the proposed Davis Refinery, the big industrial plant the California company Meridian Energy wants to build next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. You’ll recall the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDOH) sent Meridian a letter a month ago questioning some of … Continue reading Our Rich Heritage. Our National Park.