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Witness - Witness - Ghost Town to Boom Town

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00:10Hello and welcome to WITNESS, bringing you people's stories from all over the globe.
00:15I'm Ghida Fakhry.
00:17In 2006, WITNESS traveled to the U.S. state of North Dakota to capture the phenomenon
00:23of this large rural state struggling with an outgoing tide of humanity.
00:27With economic opportunities luring the next generation to distant cities,
00:32the future of much of the state looked grim.
00:35But two years later, an oil boom transformed the landscape of Northwest North Dakota.
00:40We returned to see this change through the eyes of Jenny Hagen,
00:44a 2006 high school graduate from the town of Crosby.
00:47She wanted to see for herself the impact of these changes on what remains an isolated corner of the country
00:53and how her slice of the state has gone from ghost town to boom town.
01:06This is my hometown in North Dakota four years ago.
01:11And the future looked pretty bleak back then.
01:16Small town in North Dakota.
01:18Hard to attract people that want to come here and live here.
01:24It would be nice to get some families in here and have some kids and get the school population back
01:29up.
01:34The risk is that the area will die.
01:41Today, a new oil boom is transforming the countryside beyond my wildest imagination.
01:48But as I head home to see what impact this is having, it's clear that the oil riches are a
01:54mixed blessing.
01:55It's going to make a lot of people millionaires.
01:58There's more people around, a lot of unfamiliar faces.
02:02We have a lot of money in the banks around here, and not just my bank, but every bank.
02:11That's me, four years ago, graduating with 26 other classmates from Divide County High School in Northwest North Dakota.
02:20As hard as it is to leave all of this behind, I can't help but anticipate what the years ahead
02:25might bring.
02:29When I left home for college back then, there were news reports around the country
02:33describing North Dakota as a place filled with ghost towns.
02:37They said that we couldn't even give land away.
02:42We had to lure people to North Dakota with offers of free homes, and even then, very few actually moved
02:49there.
02:49All these little railroad towns like Ambrose, there's like 20, 30 people, if that, that live in these towns.
02:56And those towns, you hate to see them die, but it's probably going to happen.
03:02Now, things are changing.
03:04The confluence of advanced technology and new drilling techniques is making this, the largest oil field in the continental United
03:12States,
03:13finally profitable to exploit.
03:15Well, I'm just going to go out and bale some hay.
03:17This is bringing changes that none of us could foresee.
03:22My own farming family has benefited from the oil boom.
03:26Farm legacy passing on to the kids.
03:29It's like, it's not just the surface that we own anymore, the land.
03:36It's our mineral acres are worth a little bit of money now, too.
03:40So, how does that work?
03:41I mean, Jesse and Josh and I, I mean, we're not knocking down the barn door to come, you know,
03:47to come back and start farming.
03:49Rent the surface out and hang onto the minerals and pass the minerals on down.
03:54Yeah, that's basically what I'm sure is, that's what most retired farmers are doing.
04:00No, we're not overnight millionaires like many Montreal County families are, but because we still hold the mineral rights beneath
04:07our land,
04:08oil speculation helped make my senior year at college a little easier to budget.
04:14North Dakota is one of the only states in the Union with a huge budget surplus, thanks to oil.
04:21Seeing all of the changes that are happening to my hometown, I want to find out what these oil riches
04:27are really doing to my community.
04:30Four years ago, local economic leaders worried how to bring business and opportunity to the state.
04:35The purpose is to revitalize and to a large degree repopulate Northwest North Dakota.
04:44Today, Williston Bank Marketing Director Steve Slocum worries instead about the price being paid for their success.
04:52I think what blows me away more than anything is the fact that every two square miles there could be
04:56one of those wells like that.
04:58And that will alter this landscape that I came to live and love in forever.
05:05North Dakota has been through this resource romance before.
05:09In the 1980s, oil was discovered and with it came a modern day land rush that brought instant wealth to
05:16the same corner of the state.
05:18But it all went bust when the high cost of drilling exceeded the value of the oil that was being
05:23found.
05:23You were around in the 80s when the oil went bust.
05:27I mean, what has it been like for Williston to recover from that?
05:30Well, that's why we're looking for state money to help with any new infrastructure now is because people have a
05:35short memory of what happened in the 80s.
05:37When that bust went down, Williston had just invested 25 million or so dollars into subdivision infrastructure and expansion for
05:44the city.
05:45Went flat, everybody left, the city got stuck with the bill.
05:47The 80s bust cost us dearly.
05:50But I wonder, what price are we paying for today's oil boom?
05:55In the past four years, county courthouses like this one in Stanley have been besieged by leasing agents set on
06:02securing as many available mineral leases as possible.
06:06When an oil company first wants to move into an area, the first thing they do is send us to
06:11the courthouse to search the land records to find out who owns the mineral rights.
06:16The ones you feel bad for are the ones who own the surface, but none of the minerals, because they
06:24don't get a royalty check.
06:26With an influx of thousands of oil field workers, the housing situation here has become so tight that some seek
06:34shelter in their cars.
06:35Man camps, that doesn't really say a family atmosphere.
06:40Are there families moving into Williston?
06:42Do you see a lot of the oil workers ready to start a family here and stay for the long
06:48term?
06:48Man camps are an important component at this part of the game because there are so many of those temporal
06:54workers that are in and out and have no intention of settling here.
06:58Now, a lot of them, when they see a few sunsets and they visit with some people and get out
07:02and see what kind of fishing and hunting we got, probably going to stay.
07:05Many of these men are drawn here from all over the country for the jobs and prospect of a steady
07:11paycheck.
07:12I've always been a family guy, you know.
07:13I get up, go to work early in the morning, get home, you know, that evening and spend the rest
07:17of the evening with the kids.
07:17And now, you know, it's two weeks and it's like, wow.
07:21Jason Hall came here from Missouri, leaving behind his wife and six children after being laid off from Wal-Mart.
07:28Like most of the men here, he works for two weeks straight, 12 hours a day.
07:33Then Jason drives 21 hours to Missouri to be with his family for two weeks.
07:38The money appears worth it?
07:40Yeah, yeah.
07:41It's a lot better than trying to live from paycheck to paycheck.
07:43Right now, it means the future because before, you know, I mean, we're struggling, scraping to get by and stuff.
07:50And now with this job, you know, my wife don't have to work.
07:53You know, she can spend 24 hours a day with the kids, which, you know, we feel is better for
07:57the kids.
08:00Just the money is, you know, just too good.
08:04He's not alone in being willing to sacrifice the present in order to gain a better future for his family.
08:10It's a beautiful country up here.
08:12You know, I like it up here, but it's not a place that I can move my family, you know,
08:18besides moving away from the rest of my family.
08:20But it's just, I don't know, it would be too much of a change for them all, I think.
08:25This is your home, huh, Todd?
08:26Yes, it is.
08:27All right.
08:28Most of the oil workers I meet have every intention of staying only as long as the oil boom lasts.
08:34They know it's not going to last forever.
08:37Some of those living in rented rooms or in one of the scarce apartments are now paying rents comparable to
08:43New York or Washington, D.C.
08:46But a majority of the oil field workers live in camps like these.
08:49Well, this is our man camp, if you want to call it that.
08:52Some companies, like Doug Jelly's oil field support business, provide free trailers for their workers.
08:59Doug's company can hardly keep up with the demand for their services.
09:03I don't see it slowing down.
09:05I see it picking up.
09:06We're picking up right now.
09:08The oil companies are, we're told that there's 150 rigs out here.
09:15There'll be 200 by next year.
09:17And it's supposed to go for, you know, the next, I'm told, five years.
09:23So we've committed to that.
09:25We've had to limit the amount of hours the guys can work because it's just way, you could, we could
09:31work them 24 hours a day.
09:33But nothing about today's oil boom in North Dakota speaks to sustainability.
09:38The land, water, and communities are being stretched beyond their capacity to try and accommodate the booming businesses.
09:47The town of Ray is working as fast as it can to build more houses for oil workers.
09:53Ironically, the town's only lumber yard closed its doors in 2006 when no one stepped in to buy the thriving
10:00and profitable company before the owner, Don Sir, retired.
10:06There you are. Thank you.
10:08Today, a big man camp is being built on the edge of town, which will likely double the size of
10:14the community.
10:15And in the middle of a big construction boom, Don's old lumber yard is greatly missed.
10:21Hey, Don. How are you this morning?
10:23Great, thanks. Great.
10:25Today, it's a bar.
10:26We changed it a lot, didn't we?
10:28Yes, this is really a big change.
10:30Saving somebody old and putting something new with it.
10:35How has the atmosphere here in Ray changed?
10:39You see the activity, the trucks and stuff all around you, and I mean, they're here just like we came
10:46for one reason, make a living.
10:48That's what it all boils down to.
10:51Join me again after the break here on Witness.
11:01Welcome back to Witness. I'm Rita Fakhry.
11:04In 2006, Jenny Hagan graduated from high school in Crosby, Northwest North Dakota, at a time when people were leaving
11:12the state in droves to seek a better economic future.
11:16She returns in 2010 to find that her home state is facing a new and very different reality after an
11:23oil boom.
11:28North Dakota, long the national example of desolation and the embodiment of the wide open prairie, presents a changing landscape
11:36today.
11:38I'm returning to this region to take a closer look at the state of the state.
11:44It's one of the good things in life here.
11:47Joe and Karen Huber moved back to North Dakota after many years of working around the country in various jobs.
11:54They returned, not for the oil, but to build their dream home.
11:59They pooled their life savings and sunk it all into a 160-acre homestead near Stanley.
12:05I, you know, I never in my wildest imagination ever dreamed that I would have something like this one day.
12:12And I couldn't have been more thankful and more content.
12:16Life was sweet for a few years.
12:18They loved everything their land brought them.
12:21Wide open spaces, the wildlife, peace and quiet, until the boom struck and changed everything around them.
12:28All these wells you'll see, you'll be shocked at the flares.
12:32Oil trucks now rumble down their country road all day and night, spitting up gravel all around and tearing up
12:41the roadbed.
12:42Large natural gas flares light up the night sky and spew particles into the air.
12:50Generators from nearby pumping stations run 24-7, puncturing the peace and quiet.
12:57Our house felt like it was going to buzz right off the foundation when they fracked the well a mile
13:01to the north.
13:02This one's about, I think we checked, 330 yards, I believe.
13:06It was the most ungodly, annoying thing.
13:10The house was humming.
13:12The Hubers own their property, but just the surface of it.
13:16When they purchased their land, they tried to buy the mineral rights to what lies below it, too.
13:21But those had already been sold.
13:24Joe and Karen are only eligible to receive a one-time access fee of around $7,000 if oil companies
13:32need to use their property to drill.
13:34As long as you're going to occupy a surface owner's land, there needs to be a residual check to that
13:39surface owner.
13:41Nobody pays when we get our windshields busted, our vehicles tore up because the roads tore up.
13:47We don't get a nickel for that.
13:49This has done nothing but cost surface owners a lot of money.
13:53What are some of the things that you would change, you know, the things that you don't like about what
13:57the oil companies are doing?
13:58Well, the way it is right now, I've managed to keep the oil companies off of our 160 acres here.
14:03The only way I'm going to know if my well is contaminated or has been depleted in any way is
14:10if, you know, we write the checkout and we do our own water sample.
14:16Okay, I don't believe that's right.
14:19Joe is not just concerned about his own land.
14:22He is also worried about the oil boom's legacy and the impact on the environment.
14:26I wouldn't consider myself a tree hugger type, but I am a conservationist and I am a steward of the
14:32land.
14:32And I believe that we need to take care of our land and these people won't.
14:38He says he lost what he once had and there's no way to get back the tranquility and privacy or
14:45reverse the oil company's encroachment on his land and nearby prairie.
14:49He is now hoping to just preserve what is left of his dream.
14:54I don't want their money.
14:55I just want them to stay off our property.
14:57Don't wreck my home.
14:58This is our home.
14:59This is all we got.
15:00I won't fight them in court, but I'll fight to the death right here.
15:04And I'm not crazy.
15:05I don't have a death wish, but I'm an American.
15:08This is my home.
15:09This is what Karen and I have worked our entire lives for.
15:14And we're not going to give it up.
15:16If you go up against the multi-billion dollar industry, you better be prepared to fight.
15:21And I am.
15:23Candy Mossett is an American Indian environmentalist who grew up on a reservation beside Lake Sakakawea.
15:30Since the oil boom began, she's seen dangerous developments on tribal lands.
15:35She feels that the water from the underground reservoir isn't just being polluted.
15:40It's disappearing altogether.
15:42Every time that they use this water, they have to put chemicals in it to be able to do the
15:47whole process.
15:49So up to 2,500 chemicals are used.
15:53The horizontal oil extraction process, known as fracking, uses an enormous amount of water.
15:59Much of the oil technology in North Dakota is so new that there is little understanding of the long-term
16:06consequences of drilling.
16:08And there's no scientific studies that I know of yet that talk about what's happening when that groundwater moves and
16:14gets into our drinking water.
16:16While some such as candy fear that toxic hazards will linger into the future, those that are using the water
16:23claim that they are acting responsibly.
16:26Natural resources are one of our state's most precious commodities.
16:31As incoming industries associated with the oil boom consume them, I wonder, how long will we be able to depend
16:37on our water?
16:39They're already noticing water pressure levels dropping and depleting.
16:43So according to our state hydrologists, we shouldn't be using certain aquifers because the water is going to be depleted
16:49anyways in a number of years.
16:51I think it was like 60 years.
16:52That's really scary.
16:53And that's without energy development.
16:56Most of the water is shipped to rig sites in huge trucks.
17:00This, along with the equipment and the end product, are part of the reason why the roads in this section
17:05of the state went from being virtually deserted four years ago to being clogged with traffic today.
17:11A friend of ours was actually killed on the road.
17:14She was driving home in her dad's big old truck and thought she was safe because she was in a
17:20big old truck.
17:21But one of the water tankers clipped her truck and crushed her dad's cap.
17:26To me, that kind of impact is not worth it for the development that we have going on here.
17:33But for a lot of people, you know, they say it does create jobs and things in the area.
17:39So it kind of depends on who you talk to.
17:42Four years ago, many towns in North Dakota were losing population.
17:47In an attempt to stem the tide, a regional marketing alliance made up of local business leaders, like Steve Slocum,
17:54ran a website called Prairie Opportunities.
17:57The goal was to attract 5,000 new people to the area.
18:02In my wildest dreams, it would have me moving somewhere else because there's too many people around.
18:07As the concept grows, there may be other directions that economic developers and others in the area will put into
18:14play as we kind of lead the way into this new digital age and prairie pioneering in the 21st century.
18:22People who could bring with them the high-tech know-how to create a new digital industry that could help
18:28populate some of the state's more isolated areas.
18:31So tell me where Prairie Opportunities is at now.
18:34That website has been shut down.
18:36That whole game plan has changed.
18:38We were looking for telecommuters, 5,000 spread out throughout northwest North Dakota.
18:43We're getting to that point just about right here in Williston.
18:47So these are not bad people that came in.
18:50These are great people.
18:52It's just that it's a lot different than what we envisioned as telecommuters moving into the area.
18:57A lot of different impact and a lot lower impact to the overall economy.
19:01And they brought their job with them, so to speak.
19:03So that was the premise then.
19:05But that's out the window now because one of the key driving forces for attracting those people, as you remember
19:10four years ago, you could buy a house for $60,000.
19:12A nice house.
19:13That is not the case anymore.
19:15That house is $200,000 nowadays.
19:17How has the marketing shifted?
19:20A senior vice president came into my office one day and he said, don't advertise for any more deposit.
19:25And I had him repeat it again because I was pretty sure a bank marketer had never heard that before.
19:30Banks such as ours and others participate in other loans around the country.
19:33If, with the amount of revenue that is rolling into the banks in this area because of oil production and
19:39royalty and what have you, if we had places to invest that, but unfortunately the economy is not so hot
19:46everywhere else.
19:47It is right here.
19:47But for bankers it's a little bit of a quandary.
19:51Do you think any of this, that scope of growth, do you think that's sustainable?
19:56No.
19:57I guess, number one, I guess no it isn't.
19:59Not without the state or an entity bigger than a community of Williston size.
20:05It's way bigger than Williston.
20:06And now is the time to do what Halliburton is doing as a state.
20:10They are ramping up right now.
20:12They're building all this infrastructure to get ready for what's coming.
20:15What's here right now is the tip of the iceberg.
20:17There will be a well every two square miles out there.
20:21Probably three or four once they get on each location, they'll drill laterals.
20:24So there's going to be all kinds of truck traffic, all kinds of craziness.
20:28It's a gold rush.
20:29But there's a limit to just how much land is available in town.
20:33After this construction season, there's no more infrastructure left in Williston. None.
20:39For me and my classmates from 2006, that year truly did mark a commencement.
20:45That was the year that so much of our part of North Dakota began to change.
20:50We just didn't realize how much it was going to affect us and our home.
20:55I remember my football locker.
20:57My old classmate, Dustin Strong, fears what's happening here.
21:01I think I worry more about too many people moving here.
21:05Wow.
21:06And I know a lot of people from the class of 05 are back.
21:09Yeah.
21:10A lot of them.
21:11This is some of the best land in the country for growing wheat.
21:16And then you throw an oil pad into these wheat fields and you're taking really good farmland out of production.
21:24It's harder to look at it from like an environmentalist standpoint, the oil development when you're from the area.
21:30Yeah.
21:31Because I can't fault the people that are making money off it.
21:33I have friends and family that are making good livings out of it.
21:36Do you think that there's a new sense of energy in town as opposed to like when we graduated?
21:42I think it's bringing more business and there's more money floating around.
21:45I mean, obviously the school is going to get money off of these rigs and whatnot and the state will
21:49maybe give the town more money to do stuff with.
21:53I've always felt that real North Dakotans have a special connection to the land.
21:58Our grandparents and great grandparents were the original pioneers.
22:04I grew up knowing that everyone looks out for one another.
22:09One has to when living in a remote place with a wicked climate.
22:14But the old style family farm life is vanishing.
22:19Radical changes have transformed the economy of my home into one of the most vibrant states in the country.
22:26But those changes mean that choices have to be made.
22:29And soon.
22:31North Dakota faces the risk of being burdened with a resource curse.
22:35We have plenty of oil, coal, wind, sunshine, and fertile cropland.
22:41Our quality of life will be forever changed.
22:44And the question is, depending on how we use these resources, will it be for the better or worse?
22:52But I am still filled with love, respect, and pride for the land and people of North Dakota, Ghost Town
23:00or Boom Town.
23:05Join me again next time here on Witness.
23:11joins me next time,
23:12we Milena einmal
23:14We have time to double check it out against people of the values of the.

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