Reflections on a boom: Perceptions of energy development impacts in the Bakken oil patch inform environmental science & policy priorities

Devan Allen McGranahan; Felix N Fernando; Meghan L E Kirkwood

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.122

Reflections on a boom: Perceptions of energy development impacts in the Bakken oil patch inform environmental science & policy priorities

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Dec 1:599-600:1993-2018. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.122. Epub 2017 May 23.

Authors

Devan Allen McGranahan¹, Felix N Fernando², Meghan L E Kirkwood³

Affiliations

¹ School of Natural Resource Sciences-Range Science Program, 201D Morrill Hall, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA. Electronic address: mcgranah@alumni.grinnell.edu.
² Hanley Sustainability Institute, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
³ Department of Visual Arts, Renaissance Hall, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, USA.

PMID: 28558422
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.122

Abstract

Ecosystems worldwide have been subject to new or intensified energy development facilitated by technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, activity that has generated concern for air, water, biotic, and social resources. Application of these technologies in the development of the Bakken oil patch has made it one of the most productive petroleum plays in North America, causing unprecedented landscape industrialization of otherwise rural, agricultural counties in western North Dakota. The region is isolated, and development impacts have not been well-studied. To identify concerns of citizens of the Bakken and determine how research and policy might support them, we conducted a two-part study: First, we held focus groups with resource management and community leaders in three major oil-producing counties. Second, we used an outline of the major concerns expressed by focus group members as a survey for landowners and farm/ranch operators. We found little relationship between survey respondents' reported categorization of energy impacts and actual land area impacted, suggesting factors such as attitude towards development, degree of compensation, and level of disturbance are relevant. Landowners agreed with focus groups on the nature of relationships between energy companies and locals and development impacts on infrastructure and communities; those reporting greater impacts tended to agree more strongly. But many specific problems described in focus groups were not widely reported in the survey, suggesting energy-community relationships can be improved through state-level public policy and respect from energy companies for locals and their way of life. Consideration of these concerns in future energy policy-both in the Bakken and worldwide-could reduce social tension, lessen environmental impact, and increase overall social, economic, and environmental efficiency in energy development.

Keywords: Creating usable science; Energy development impacts; Landscape industrialization; North Dakota energy development.