Jobs and Opportunity: Stories from the Bakken
Brian Carpenter
EID Guest Columnist; Sturgis, S.D.
Sturgis, South Dakota sits on the northern end of the Black Hills, about 30 miles from Rapid City and an hour north of Mount Rushmore. It’s probably best known for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally held each August. This event is internationally renowned with up to half a million motorcyclists from all over the world attending the rally for a week of fun and entertainment.
But the rest of the year Sturgis is a quiet town with a population of 6,500. Like many small towns across America, economic opportunities can be hard to come by, especially in recent times. Good paying jobs here are scarce, and many young people find it necessary to move away to pursue a future filled with promise. It is a sad realization when one discovers they must travel away from their home and family; sometimes long distances, to make an honest and successful living. That’s why many people here see the economic activity generated by North Dakota’s Bakken play as a tremendous opportunity. Even though the Bakken formation itself is about a five hour drive north of Sturgis, it’s having a dramatic impact on the lives of many people in this area.
One such individual is Bailey Cleland. Bailey is a 21 year old native of Sturgis. He had planned on going into the Navy after high school, but a knee injury disqualified him from service. After some searching he found a good job with Paragon Water Solutions, a North Dakota based company. Paragon treats both the salt and fresh water used in the oil and natural gas development process, removing the drill cuttings from the water and allowing it to be re-circulated throughout well development. They pioneered the use of a vacuum filtration device to clean rig water. During the three or four days it takes them to clean the water in a rig’s reservoir, Cleland and his crew live in trailers at the well site.
Paragon pays $17 per hour to start, with a raise usually offered after three months. The crew works twelve hours per day, eighty-four hours per week. They work for two weeks and then get two weeks off, during which time Cleland returns to Sturgis. Workers get overtime pay for every hour after forty hours. You can see how this compensation can add up quickly or in Cleland’s words “That’s how you really make your money.”
When asked about his opinion regarding oil and natural gas development in North Dakota Cleland said:
“This is an opportunity to change your life. It’s an opportunity to make a lot of money and get ahead and save for your future.”
Cleland said that he enjoys the hard work, the mechanical experience he is gaining, and the problem solving skills he is developing as part of his job. He realizes the work may not last forever and he hopes to work in the industry for approximately five years or just long enough to save up enough money to start his own welding shop.
Jacob Evans tells a similar story. Evans, also a 21 year old Sturgis native, used to work for a local pizza restaurant. Now he works for Marquis Alliance Energy Group. He is responsible for waste material disposal and centrifuge operations. His job involves stabilizing the solid waste material from the well development process. The cuttings recovered are mixed with fly ash and other substances which render them safe for disposal. This mixture is then trucked away to a central site for burial. When asked how he likes his job he said, “I love it! I get to work with heavy equipment, and I make really good money.”
While Evans likes his job he will be the first to tell you the hours are long and the work is hard. He works twelve hours per day and seven days per week during his time on the rig. He says the hard work and long hours are worth it. Evans stated that after less than three months of employment he is making $3,600 per month, plus $50 per day in per diem pay as well as a $100 per day rig bonus for every day he is on the rig. When asked how this new opportunity has shaped his life Evans had some profound and reflective words to share:
“I kind of got into some trouble before,” he said. “This has enabled me to pay off some things and make a new start. It’s a golden opportunity to make a future for yourself. There are more jobs than people, and you can make more money than anything else in the area.”
Evans also brought up a point that is often overlooked. The Bakken Shale does not discriminate and provides good jobs for all citizens. In fact, Evans said it was an especially good opportunity for those who did not plan, or are unable, to go to college.
Jenn Tobin’s husband, Wade, also works in the North Dakota oil and gas fields. The Tobin’s have been married for thirteen years and have three children. They moved to Sturgis from Clear Lake, SD in August of this year. Wade has a degree in industrial engineering. He had worked for a company in Watertown, SD for several years, but a bad business climate led to layoffs and he lost his job. After a couple of other engineering jobs, Wade took a job with Halliburton. Using the knowledge he gained at Halliburton he recently left to open his own business as an independent contractor.
The Tobin family places a high priority on Jenn being able to stay at home with her children during their most formative years. They also wanted to send the kids to a Christian school. The good salary that Wade earns through his employment in the oil and gas industry enabled this to come true with Jenn at home and the children being enrolled at a Christian school in a nearby town. In this case it is clear that the oil and gas industry’s presence here allowed the Tobin’s to reach important goals they set for their family. Jenn is excited about the situation and the opportunity it presents her family.
“I love being at home,” Jenn says. “There are some challenges to being alone sometimes, like when the snow blower is broken and the sidewalk needs to be shoveled. But I am the only child of a single mother. I’ve always been independent and been able to manage. I appreciate the sacrifice my husband is making for his family and the opportunity the natural gas and oil industry has provided us. This is a much needed stepping stone to achieve our long-term goals and provide for our family.”
In a recent white paper analysis, under the headline “Hydraulic Fracturing the Key to Michigan’s Energy Future,” Russ Harding of the Midland, Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy writes that hydraulic fracturing has “been done safely and without environmental damage in America dating back to the 1940s.”
Harding — who served as director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality from 1995 through 2002, having previously held senior management posts in environmental and natural resources departments in Arizona, Alaska and Missouri — writes this in his analysis about hydraulic fracturing’s long and clear record of environmental safety:
Fracking is the process of creating fissures in underground formations to allow natural gas to flow. Horizontal drilling is utilized to access deep shale formations that contain natural gas. Fluid comprised of 99 percent water and sand and containing small amounts of chemicals found in common consumer products is injected into formations to create fissures from which the natural gas can be economically recovered. The wells are encased in multiple layers of steel and surrounded by cement to protect groundwater.
But natural gas development activities, including fracking, are already subject to several federal and state environmental laws. Regulators at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment should be allowed to do their job without political interference. Fracking operations to recover natural gas have been done safely and without environmental damage in America dating back to the 1940s.
Safely developing the country’s vast natural gas reserves is critical to both the nation’s economy and national security. It is also important to hold the oil and gas industry to the highest safety and environmental standards in developing deep shale reserves. Oil and gas development is never 100 percent free from environmental risk, but fracking has proven to be a safe and effective technology in helping to meet the nation’s energy needs. Efforts to prevent use of the technology by overregulation will increase energy costs and decrease jobs.
But Mr. Harding isn’t alone in his efforts to better inform and educate folks about the overwhelmingly positive economic, environmental and national security benefits associated with domestic oil and natural gas production enable by fracture stimulation technologies. Here’s what other scientific experts are saying about fracturing and job-creating domestic energy development:
- Western PA Geologist: “The scientific facts of geology and drilling are not a mystery, something of which they appear not to have an understanding. Commencing in 1859 at Titusville, Pa., there have been some 350,000 oil and gas wells drilled in Pennsylvania, long before the discovery of the Marcellus gas play in 2004. … There has not been one documented public death or health issue due to the drilling, fracking and extraction process for hydrocarbons. The council’s vote is a vote against science, knowledge and being educated about things they just don’t want to understand. If council is so concerned about the chemicals in the fracking process, they should first look at the household chemicals used in their own homes. (Post-Gazette, 11/21/10)
- Texas Alliance of Energy Producers’ Alex Mills: “The truth is states have regulated hydraulic fracturing since the 1950s and there has never been an incident of ground water pollution caused by a frac. These facts were conveniently left out of her report. EPA is in the process of doing another study of hydraulic fracturing, but this will be the second in recent years. The first found no pollution of ground water from fracturing. (San Angelo Standard Times, 11/19/10)
- Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Kathryn Klaber: “Your readers should understand that fracturing fluids are 99.5 percent water and sand, with a fraction of additives used to reduce friction in the well bore and to kill bacteria (all components are listed on the state DEP’s website). These fluids have never impacted groundwater, a fact that has been confirmed by DEP Secretary John Hanger. The shale-gas industry – which, according to experts at Penn State, will have helped create 88,000 jobs in the commonwealth by year’s end – is committed to responsibly ensuring that we maximize the economic, energy security, and environmental benefits of the Marcellus Shale for all Pennsylvanians. We are devoted to getting this opportunity right. Our industry is taking commonsense steps to ensure that groundwater is protected and that responsible Marcellus development will continue to help put tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians to work. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/20/10)
Given these facts, it’s no wonder why film critic (not the bourbon) Evan Williams of The Australian writes this in a critique of the anti-clean-burning natural gas development film Gasland:
I wish I could say that GasLand is a well-made film, that it does justice to its story. But it doesn’t. It has all the hallmarks of today’s self-consciously improvised documentary style: erratic camera work, jerky editing, tiresomely repetitive shots of unrolling backwoods highways, all accompanied by bursts of hillbilly music. No shot of a rig is too blurred or unsteady to be cut. … GasLand would have been a more powerful and effective film had Fox shown more professional discipline and the opposing arguments had at least been heard
From Williamsport to Watford City: Thanks to HF, “Anyone in the region who wants a job can find one”
Thanks to advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology, America’s oil and natural gas industry is doing its part to put folks back to work by leveraging our nation’s vast energy reserves into jobs, revenue and opportunity for those who need it. Whether it’s natural gas from the Marcellus or oil from the Bakken, thousands of jobs are being created, local economies are suddenly flourishing and America is strengthening its energy security by the day.
At a public hearing yesterday (click HERE for video) in Williamsport, Pa., members of the state senate heard from local economic and workforce development officials on the economic impact that the natural gas industry is having on the state’s economy. Larry Michael, executive director of Penn College’s Workforce & Economic Development program, summed it up best in this morning’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette:
“We believe that the economic and workforce opportunities are huge,” he said. “The magnitude of this opportunity will not only transform this region of the state but will provide the foundation resources to greatly enhance the overall economic health and job creation opportunities of the commonwealth.”
Industry representatives testifying at the hearing laid out in detail the number of jobs being created:
Perry Harris, northeast U.S. district manager of Halliburton, said the company has 750 state residents on its payroll and is looking for new workers every day. He noted recent development by the company with its facility near Montgomery, where 181 people are employed, and more will be hired.
Michael Narcavage, manager of corporate development for the Chesapeake Energy Corp., said… In the past year, the company has expanded its statewide workforce from about 250 full-time personnel to more than 1,100, many of those jobs in Bradford County, where the majority of the company’s operations are located.
Just to the west of Williamsport in Clinton County, the Lock Haven Express reports today that hundreds of new jobs have arrived in their community as well, thanks entirely to the responsible development of shale gas:
The Marcellus Shale natural gas play dominated Wednesday’s Clinton County Economic Partnership meeting. Partnership President and CEO Mike Flanagan reported about a dozen Marcellus gas-related companies have located in Clinton County, resulting in 200 new direct jobs and having a positive, indirect impact on trucking and construction-related companies in the area.
So what’s at stake if Washington moves to halt or restrict the use of HF?
U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources panel, summed it up best yesterday on the Senate floor: Domestic oil and gas development “will stop very quickly if we can’t continue what is called hydraulic fracturing”
Click HERE to watch this speech
“There is up to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil using today’s technology [in the Bakken formation], according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That, plus the gas shale plays in much of the country and others, we’re beginning to produce a bit more oil and gas at this point in the country. That will stop very quickly if we can’t continue what is called hydraulic fracturing. That’s a big problem that we have to deal with.”
He went on to defend the safety record of 60-year-old fracturing technology, citing its importance to all states that rely on the successful production of our nation’s natural resources:
“I think most of us in this Senate who come from areas where we produce this fossil energy believe that [hydraulic fracturing] has been done for 50 years without a problem and now it is under some siege. … But we need to continue — and we will — with the production of oil in this country and natural gas.”
In 1949, the average cost for a gallon of gasoline was 17 cents. That same year, the First Polaroid Camera was sold for $89.95. And while the Polaroid has certainly had a lasting impact on American society, it was in 1949 when hydraulic fracturing first came into commercial use.
This energy stimulation technology has been safely used to help produce homegrown oil and natural gas more than 1.1 million times. And because of the industry’s commitment to ensure environmental safety, along with commonsense laws and regulations overseeing the process, hydraulic fracturing has never caused groundwater contamination. But despite this remarkable track record of putting the nation on stronger path toward energy security, a host of claims surrounding fracturing continue to persist.
Energy In Depth’s Lee Fuller helped separate the fact from fiction in a Detroit Free Press letter this week:
Fracturing is not new and is not “exempt from federal water laws,” as Olson claims. Shale gas development is regulated under the federal Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, the Community “Right to Know” Act, the Superfund law and by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
While Olson claims that “Most states, like Michigan, have not evaluated the impacts” of this technology, your readers should know Harold Fitch, director of the Geological Survey (OGS) office at Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality — which regulates every aspect of oil and gas production, including fracturing — has said that “there is no indication that hydraulic fracturing has ever caused damage to ground water or other resources in Michigan.” Fitch notes that “OGS has never received a complaint or allegation that hydraulic fracturing has impacted groundwater in any way.”
Fracturing fluids are made up of more than 99.5% water and sand. A small percentage of fluids used to reduce friction and kill bacteria that are commonly found under one’s kitchen sink, are added. Not only is a list of these fluids mandated by federal law to be available at every well site, many organizations — including Energy In Depth — list them online.
And here’s just a quick snapshot of positive economic benefits that hydraulic fracturing is helping to bring to energy-producing regions of the country that are in desperate need of good-paying jobs and stable energy costs, as well as the commitment from the industry to be good neighbors and stewards of the environment:
- Making good on a promise; Halliburton plant creates jobs. Sun-Gazette. “When ground was broken last August on a cement mixing plant owned by Halliburton off Route 405 in Clinton Township, company officials promised they would bring jobs to this area. The company is making good on that promise, said Perry A. Harris, senior district manager for Halliburton’s northeast U.S. operations. “By year’s end we’ll have 75 to 100 (employees) and (add) another 100 to 150 next year,” Harris said during a recent tour of the plant. … Harris said the company plans to develop another 55 acres nearby that will be home to other Halliburton gas field support operations. “Between the two sites, we’ll (be hiring) 400-plus people over the next two to three years,” Harris said.
- Another Bakken in ND? KXN-TV. “Central Bottineau County is poised to become the hub of a brand new boom. We’ve all become familiar with the Bakken Shale Formation in recent years. That’s the huge oil-rich rock formation that’s triggered a major oil boom centered in the Stanley area. But now, major oil companies are making moves that suggest a second oil boom is in its infancy. Jim Olson reports. Oil wells are not new to Bottineau County. 40 years ago, several successful wells were drilled there. But the work going on this summer on drilling rigs like this could signal the beginning of a major oil rush to the region. Lynn Helms, Dept. of Mineral Resources, says “It’s going to have a major impact.”
- Our commitment to the community. Lock Haven Express, Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Kathryn Klaber. “And while Marcellus development is still in the early stages, many of these benefits are already being realized. According to a recent study released by researchers at Penn State, our industry will help create nearly 212,000 jobs across the Commonwealth over the next decade. Last year alone, Marcellus development was responsible for the creation of 44,000 jobs. To date, landowners have received more than $1.7 billion in royalties and lease payments from Marcellus producers. And this production has also generated close to $400 million in state and local tax receipts – with that number expected to double this year. Many Pennsylvanians are also seeing lower energy rates because of this increase supply, allowing consumers to keep more of what they earn.
- Natural gas fueling economy. Shreveport Times. “The Haynesville Shale is the fourth largest natural gas field in the world. Discovered in 2008, the shale rock is buried as deep as two miles under the ground and in some places can be 500 feet thick. It stretches about 5,000 square miles under most of northwest Louisiana, and experts believe it contains about 245 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power America for 10 years. Local leaders tout the economic benefits of the shale not just because of the millions of dollars in royalties and leasing bonuses paid to local landowners during the past two years from gas companies scrambling to acquire space to drill, but also new jobs and economic growth have come as a result of the production.
- Anadarko joins team to preserve stream banks. Lock Haven Express. “The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Bureau of Forestry have been working with volunteers from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. this week to construct in-stream fish habitat structures along Trout Run, a tributary to Pine Creek. Last fall, Anadarko contributed $10,000 to the conservancy to purchase materials for a stream restoration project in the Pine Creek watershed. Anadarko employees volunteered to help with the installation at the time of the donation. This week, they kept their word with 20 Anadarko staff from Williamsport and Houston pounding sledge hammers , moving rock, and securing silt fabric to create the in-stream structures.
- UGI to spend $300M on drilling project. Citizens Voice. “UGI Corp. plans to invest more than $300 million over the next two years to develop natural gas infrastructure in the Marcellus Shale region, a project that includes a “major pipeline project,” the utility company announced Thursday. UGI officials outlined the move in a one-and-a-half-page news release sent out after normal business hours without providing details of exactly where the company might locate such a pipeline. The project would bring Marcellus Shale producers in the state “improved access to high-value markets,” according to the release.
- Gas Company Overhauling Some Roads. WNEP-TV. “Cabot Oil and Gas is now completely rebuilding some roads before all the trucks show up. It’s a complete transformation along Wickizer Road, a state road near Dimock. Trucks and crews are turning a narrow dirt road into one wide enough to handle big trucks coming and going all the time. Cabot Oil and Gas is doing all the work on that road and other state and township roads in Susquehanna County before there is truck traffic.
