A number of American Indian tribes are sitting on reservations containing potentially trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. Instead of jumping head-first into to the hydraulic fracturing gold rush that many oil and gas conglomerates are salivating over, the tribes are taking a cautious route—one that may very well serve as an example to the rest of the nation.

Oil and gas exploration has exploded in recent years with many some states acting in a “do now; deal with consequences later” manner, and with devastating results. A prime example is northern Pennsylvania, which has seen an alarming number of cases of water contamination related to fracking operations, as well as areas around the drilling regions that have seen small earthquakes and drinking water wells polluted with methane.

A handful of Montana tribes are optimistic about the possibility of drilling on their reservations, but want to make the drilling companies accountable to environmental regulations denoted in the Clean Water Act. The stakes and the potential profits are high. Talking about the Blackfeet Indian reservation, Tristan Scott, of Missoulian.com wrote, “One estimate says the reservation sits on top of about 109 million barrels of oil and 8.6 trillion cubic feet natural gas.”

Joining the Confederated Salish and Kootenai, and the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, are the Blackfeet Indians to “apply the federal water quality standards under the Clean Water Act in an effort to protect its rivers, lakes, and wetlands,” says Scott.

The EPA’s website describes the Clean Water Act’s goals as “restoring and protecting the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. Water quality standards established under the CWA set the Tribe’s expectations for Reservation water quality, serve as a foundation for pollution control efforts and are a fundamental component of watershed management. Specifically, these standards serve as water quality goals for individual surface waters, guide and inform monitoring and assessment activities, and provide a legal basis for permitting and regulatory pollution controls (e.g. discharge permits).”

The Blackfeet tribe wants protection for the bodies of water located on their reservations so that the gas and oil exploration companies that want to get onto their land cannot simply ravage the precious natural resources. By applying the standards of the Clean Water Act, the tribe knows that it will maintain a great deal of control over the waters. The stringent rules are often attacked by big business interests as impeding on economic profits because they do hold polluters accountable for their operations. It’s an environmental management plan that works, to put it simply. 

It appears to a positive environmental trend for the reservations to fight for tight regulations to protect the land they own. Other local districts around the country would be wise to also perform due diligence when considering allowing the natural gas industry to being exploring and drilling. The companies who perform hydraulic fracturing do not have the same incentives as the locales that open up their land. Once the drills have been dug and being pumping that coveted natural gas, there is very little that can be done to clean up the mess they leave behind. 

A current environmental issue with a fairly high gross-out factor is the recent occurrence of a “mahogany Tide” growing in Baltimore Harbor. According to Scott Dance of the Baltimore Sun, “Record-high water temperatures and a March sewage leak are contributing to a large algae bloom in the Baltimore Harbor, bringing what is known as a ‘mahogany tide’ of reddish-brown algae to the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.”

It is not uncommon for algae blooms to appear in waters across the country, especially with nitrogen and fertilizer runoff from agricultural land that feed the undesirable blooms. This one is rare in that the perfect storm contributed to its rapid growth.  Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee both created excessive runoff. Also, water contamination caused by the March sewage line break could contribute to the mahogany tide. As reported in the Daily Record, a 54-inch main broke, spewing up to 17 million gallons of sewage a day. Area residents were told to avoid that part of the river and shellfish harvesting was halted there.

Algae blooms, particularly harmful ones like mahogany tide, are more than just unsightly and a nuisance to fishers. The normal plant and animal life of the waters are threatened as their oxygen supplies are choked off. Dance explains, “The blooms threaten aquatic plant and animal life because when they die, the bacteria that decompose them suck oxygen from the water, creating dead zones.”

While humans have no control over the elements such as hurricanes and tropical storms, one can’t help but wonder if there are not steps to be taken to reduce the amount of runoff that enters America’s waterways. Could Baltimore look at some of the environmental sustainability steps taken by farmers in Vermont who are attempting to curb fertilizer runoff into Lake Champlain? With thoughtful planning, are there possibilities to at least reduce the severity and occurrence of mahogany tide?