Dear supporters of Salted Lands and water council
Thank you for your support.
The State of North Dakota has funded the Golder Study, photographs of 216 historical brine ponds,. It was funded because of our work, in largest part because of the hearing Donny coordinated at the State Fairgrounds. I missed it because I was sick at home in Milwaukee. In the first attachment , pages 3 and 4 tell the scope and objectives, 16-20 show Bottineau County spills. The Golder Study did not capture images of pipeline and salt water disposal spills. Nevertheless area affected is shocking. The second attachment is a tabulation located and giving a quick visual description of the size and condition of the poisoned land. There is more to be done, because they have not focused on pipeline spills and salt water disposal site spills.
Now back to the hearing in Minot. This study was funded because of the hearing at the State Fair Grounds in Minot. The Chair of the Energy Development and Transmission Committee, Senator Rick Wardner is cooperating with Lynn Helms. The beginning of his concern occurred in Dickinson when Mark Treschock and I told mr. Warner what was going on in Bottineau County. He had taught school in Mohall and recognize that the farmers were his former students. Lynn Helms is the one who told me about the Golder Study. The same time he asked me and thee for help persuading legislators to provide money for reclamation research. He and I look to the experience of Dr. Kerry Sublette Senior Soil Reclamation Scientist at the University of Oklahoma. Attachment three has a few pages of Dr. Sublette’s Reclamation Bible , Restoration of Carbon and Brine Contaminated Soil Seminars for Farmers, Remediation Contractors and Developers .
I recently attended his Denver seminar with Austin Bitz, the owner of Dakota Gypsum Supply. He is a builder and Aware of the tons of wasted gypsum board left behind at construction sites. He recognized in opportunity to provide AC local source of gypsum for remediation. DGS has equipment that can produce 5 tons of gypsum per hour. The pure gypsum is recovered from wallboard/sheetrock waste. Gypsum is essential for brine remediation. Not only for initial spills but also old abandoned spills. When carefully applied following the remediation plan designed by a competent soil scientist such as Dr. DeSutter or Dr. Sublette, It is often one of the critical ingredients necessary for restoration of salted lands.
Will any think work on any of the 216 old North Dakota Briine Ponds. Oklahoma Soil Science Professor Dr. Sublette assures us that he has worked with brines as concentrated as we find in the Williston Basin. Let’s challenge him. Will farmers be willing to try again? There is a pervasive disbelief among the Northwest Land Owners that any reclamation can be successful on old sites. Let’s bring him to Bottineau County and hear Darwin Peterson speak of Foo Foo Dust. Myron Hanson spoke of gypsum’s failure on his land. Gypsum was plowed in Koshia Weed grew and the contractor walked off. Here is what I propose for 2019: Collaborate with the Oil and Gas Division, the Health Department, the Feds the Farm Bureau, The Farmers Union, the North Dakota Action Group taking Dr. Sublette on a listening tour so frustrated farmers can tell of reclamation failures
I hope you will consider making another contribution to Salted Land And Water Council, co Isaac Zimmerman, 919 S 7th St. #607, Bismarck, ND 58504.
Sincerely yours, Fintan Dooley