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"ND oil field workers strain law enforcement in Montana" The Jamestown Sun
Effects of the N.D. Bakken Oil Field, crowding, resource strain, crime rising, is being felt in the neighboring Montana communities. A good article describing what these small towns bordering N.D. are experiencing....
It's not because of the boom .................wink, wink, wink, wink . I am getting rather sick of our elected officials, senior members of LE, and business leaders being so p.c., that they won't publicly acknowledge what is actually causing these issues (even though we all know damn well that THEY know what is causing the problem). You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Let's just stick our collective heads further up our butts and go back to whatever it is we were doing - yes, that will make things better.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Just like the response they are getting to the Volunteer Fire departments loosing people because they are burnt out.
They have known about the boom for approx 3 years. They knew about the boom at least a year before any rigs started setting up. It amazes me that there was little to no prior planning, other then lip service. Somebody in the back saying, "You do know that we're going to have a massive increase of people, right?" And somebody at the head of the table saying, "yeah yeah yeah, we know." and then not doing anything about it.
There are some agencies that did try and plan but they just can't compete with the Oil Patch wages. It's difficult to bring somebody on staff for $14 an hour when the guy in the next home is making $29 an hour and getting in all the overtime he wants.
This boom is going to proceed Westerly. I wonder if any of the towns to the West are preparing yet????? Wolf Point, Nashua, Glasgow, Hinsdale, Saco, etc. I wonder if they are beefing up resources or even asking for state grants and funding. Or better yet, is the State of Montana even looking at the fact that these towns are going to need additional funding in anticipation of being overrun by the Oil Boom?
Most places are buying insurance, after they have the accident.
I agree that activity is going to proceed Westerly. In my observations and in talking with friends/relatives along the Montana Hi-Line, there is little to indicate any preparation for what is brewing.
There has been increased activity in the Bowdoin Gas Field (shallow gas) over the last couple of years, some new wells were drilled and existing wells were fracked. Some deep wells are in the works this Winter- I'm guessing test wells for oil- if something comes up, all hell will break loose between Malta and Glasgow.
I'll predict Miles City, in Southeastern MT to really take off. There has been quite a lot of activity between Miles City and Fort Peck Reservoir. I've noticed a lot of "fatherless" families moving to Miles City- not actually "fatherless"- Pa is in the oil patch while Ma and kids are in Miles City. Recently, the city added 2 cops and is looking for more. Miles City will also serve as the rail junction for Powder River Basin/Otter Creek coal if Arch Coal's plans come to fruition. There's a lot of building going on along Haynes Ave. near I-94.
Last edited by ursa22; 02-01-2012 at 02:44 PM..
Reason: wording
I was in the trucking business in the 1970's and 1980's hauling heavy machinery and oil field equipment. I saw booms in several places--- Craig, CO, Gilette, Wyo, Coalstrip, MT, Mildred Lake, Alberta, Cardinal River, Alberta, Prudhoe Bay, AK, Elk City, OK, Weatherford, OK, etc. etc. Initially these were small affordable communities where you would like to raise a family. Then the boom happens. Suddenly you have hoards of younger Men coming in to the area. Prices go up. Hookers start showing up followed closely by gambling, drugs and the other vices that are attracted by easy money and rowdy people. The crime rate goes up and the small community that used to be a great place is no longer affordable to the type of people that lived there before the boom. Real estate has risen through the roof. Banks are leveraged to the maximum lending money to speculators.
Ten or twenty years later the BOOM is over. The pristine community from just two decades earlier is a cesspit of crime and corruption. All of the good people are gone. This boom & bust cycle has been repeated over and over again for thousands of years yet we never learn.
Oh well I guess that is the price we pay to be civilized?
Elkhunter, I do have a great link related specifically to the locations and the fact this was information provided in 2008'. The link contains Maps, identifying the Bakken Oil field, videos, and a very informative and comprehensive article Assessment of Undiscovered Oil Resources in the Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Shale Formation, Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota, 2008 http://geology.com/usgs/bakken-formation-oil.shtml
This article is republished from a USGS Oil and Gas Fact Sheet - April, 2008
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. I am getting rather sick of our elected officials, senior members of LE, and business leaders being so p.c., that they won't publicly acknowledge what is actually causing these issues (even though we all know damn well that THEY know what is causing the problem). You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Let's just stick our collective heads further up our butts and go back to whatever it is we were doing - yes, that will make things better.
