tough people doing whatever it takes. Williston, ND today

[SDcampowneroper]

Drove up to Williston today and back home to fetch my son & his broken down truck.
Everywhere I looked from Belfield north to Williston, it made me proud to see the pioneer spirit is alive and well in this part of America.
Crew, mancamp, temporary worker housing is everywhere.
Of interest to my eyes was those thousands in rvs prepped to winter over. From FEMA style TTs to a Royals, a Nash next to an Elite Suite. No ten year or type rule applies.
These are the hardy,determined. Cudos!

[westend]

abom2,
Thanks for posting again. Yeah, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything. Good to hear you got a new position with the lesser hours. That may have been pure luck but I bet your reputation may have had something to do with it.

I've been across a lot of the world and people are pretty much the same, they like being respected and an ounce of kindness goes a long way.

FWIW, I actually restored my Starcraft with the idea of using it at the Bakken, extra insulation, 50 amp, GFCI's on almost every circuit, more efficient heater, etc.. About the time I had it done, business picked up locally and I didn't see the need to go 600 mi. for the same results. I may get up there next year, waiting to see what Spring will bring.

[abom2]

westend wrote:

abom2 wrote:
I have been following the work in my RV since 07. Refinery expansions, worked in Tioga, ND, then on to Chicago. Presently I am working the Eagle Ford in South Texas. I guess I was prepped to be be away from home with two hitches in the Marines, then two more in the Army. Always away from home, wife, kids. I have missed out on a lot of my kids growing up but they always had what they needed. They sometimes had what they wanted. I did ensure that each had the chance to go to college, something I always desired.

I have taken courses, but work or our country called and I never completed in a timely enough manner to come out with a degree.

Is it a tough life. Yep.

My loving and loyal wife of 30+ yrs has been the foundation that has enabled me to do this work. It has been tough at times but our children are grown and on their way in the world. Now I work to enable us to hopefully one day retire and hopefully full-time together.

I trust neither side. Today it seems no side will give anything but half truths at best. Most just spout innuendo, catchy phrases, or just plain old lie's. Does not matter who- Citizens Groups, Government, Free Press, Press in general, business. I research the best I can, listen to the drivel, filter out the B.S., and finally make my own decision.

Ya, it's tough and you covered the toughest part, being away from home and family.
One year, I worked nearly the whole year (that's 7-12's, minimum). When I got home, I had to ask the wife what a "garthbrooks" was, lol.

How did you make out in Tioga? I hear they're a lot of different ways that guys are making it through in an RV. I'm getting old, now, so I'm getting to be a big baby about the cold. That indoor RV park in Watford City looks awfully inviting. 😉

BTW, thanks for serving.

I was in Tioga in the early days. It was just starting to really boom. No housing, few motels. Local inhabitants were trying to do the right thing and protect their towns from the effects of the "Bust" period. The region got burned in the '83 Bust quite badly.

I set up in Minot and drove everyday 87 miles one way to work. I was working an average of 100-110 hrs a week. That lasted five months and my health started to suffer badly. By the fifth month of me ignoring the earlier warning signs my body sent me a message that was loud and clear.

I was lucky though. I had to resign my position but a new offer making the same money with a little less stress and only 60 hr work week came out of the blue within 24 hrs of resigning. It helped get my health back on track. Winter was a challenge for me. I did the skirting with C3 lights under the trailer, and in the basement. 120 gallon propane hook up. Upgraded electrical to 50 amps. I put everything on its own GFCI, added the in-line voltage conditioner and surge/voltage protection. I put a lot of money into a 5th wheel that really should not have if one strictly looked at the value of the RV. But my safety and the ability to work each day out weighed the extra expense.

The local people I met and interacted with were great and very friendly. I understood their wariness of the oil workers due to their previous experience and especially those from Texas. LOL

At first when they saw my Texas plates, and I am a native Texan they assumed the worst. But within a few minutes that problem went away. The locals who saw me at work and how each person on our staff ensured that the quality requirements and inspections were performed to the letter of the law, spec, and contract no matter the delays or costs helped develop some good friendships. We did not want to be perceived as locusts or slip shod in anyway or manner.

That was back three years ago. I can only guess what it is like now. I left a great group of people there. I wish my health would have allowed it.

My wife and I worried about the loss of such a substantial income but we reasoned that even if lived to finish the year there that I would end up giving all the money to the doctors in the end. As it was I was once again the luckiest man around and my phone rang the next day with an offer out of the blue.

I had not had a chance to network or even check for job openings.

At my current age 60-72 hr work weeks is the max for me now. If a project can be done with only 50 hrs a week from me I am good with that.

[C_SL]

Well OK. 🙂
1- finding an rv space of any kind, and if they can,
You may want to check the laws regarding RV / Man camps ect. Before you head up there. The laws are much more restrictive then they were a year ago, as where you can park or where they can build a man camp. Housing costs is unreal if you are trying to buy a house/apartment. For the indoor RV camp there are restrictions that go with them also.

2- the challenge living in an rv through an ND winter
Yes you can survive winters in Western North Dakota they have been doing it for years. But you will have a very high heating price to pay if you can find room to park.

3. How the boom is affecting locals, good or bad.
• Extremely dangers roads!!
• High prices all items
• Overcrowded schools
• Overcrowded jails!
• Overwhelming infrastructure for city water. Sewer, fire, police, hospitals, mental health. food pantries, job service.
• Very poor roads,
• And yes large amounts of contaminated water or NO water, ground & air pollution.

4 encourage experiences from those boomers living or have, in their rv in extreme winter.

Frozen pipes, Heat tape fires, frozen shut exit doors & windows, high humidity, carbon, monoxide poisoning,
Furnace motor burn out because they are not designed to run 24 hr a day!

Yes as a firefighter I have seen all of this.
There are RV’s burning down in winter because of poor judgment on how to keep them warm.

Now if you are one of the lucky one that own the mineral rights where they are drilling you may be a MILLIONAIRE.
If you do not own the minerals them you have to put up with all the **.
Just be sure you know what you are getting into before you drive up there with or without your RV.
Also you may want to look into your taxes and your vehicle license plates as for the length of time you are working up there.
The list can go on & on.

[westend]

abom2 wrote:
I have been following the work in my RV since 07. Refinery expansions, worked in Tioga, ND, then on to Chicago. Presently I am working the Eagle Ford in South Texas. I guess I was prepped to be be away from home with two hitches in the Marines, then two more in the Army. Always away from home, wife, kids. I have missed out on a lot of my kids growing up but they always had what they needed. They sometimes had what they wanted. I did ensure that each had the chance to go to college, something I always desired.

I have taken courses, but work or our country called and I never completed in a timely enough manner to come out with a degree.

Is it a tough life. Yep.

My loving and loyal wife of 30+ yrs has been the foundation that has enabled me to do this work. It has been tough at times but our children are grown and on their way in the world. Now I work to enable us to hopefully one day retire and hopefully full-time together.

I trust neither side. Today it seems no side will give anything but half truths at best. Most just spout innuendo, catchy phrases, or just plain old lie's. Does not matter who- Citizens Groups, Government, Free Press, Press in general, business. I research the best I can, listen to the drivel, filter out the B.S., and finally make my own decision.

Ya, it's tough and you covered the toughest part, being away from home and family.
One year, I worked nearly the whole year (that's 7-12's, minimum). When I got home, I had to ask the wife what a "garthbrooks" was, lol.

How did you make out in Tioga? I hear they're a lot of different ways that guys are making it through in an RV. I'm getting old, now, so I'm getting to be a big baby about the cold. That indoor RV park in Watford City looks awfully inviting. 😉

BTW, thanks for serving.

[SDcampowneroper]

C'mon folks, I started this thread to open discussion about ND oil workers, their challenges of living quarters.
1- finding an rv space of any kind, and if they can, 2-
2- the challenge living in an rv through an ND winter.
3- How the boom is affecting locals, good or bad.
4- encourage experiences from those boomers living or have, in their rv in extreme winter.

While I found the past few posts informative on opinion, scientifically or not, they were astray of thread intent and bordered on political commentary.
Please keep your comments coming, mindful of forum rules.
I meant this to be an educational tool for the many rvers who have never been in a boom, encouragement for those in one, expectations for the some who may go into one.
Max

[TechWriter]

westend wrote:

Is there potential for damage to the aquifer? Yes, but probably more from depletion from using the water and surface contamination than drilling.

First, since a lot of us drive gas guzzling RVs (including me), it would be pretty hypocritical to throw a hissy fit over hydraulic fracking.

However, that said . . . ignoring the "side effects" of this process wouldn't be a good idea either. Besides possible ground water chemical contamination, fracking, particularly the Williston Bakken salty oil shale, requires a lot of fresh water -- which is not plentiful in this area.

Finally, while most of us can just ignore all this because they aren't drilling wells in our back yards, there are other things. This summer when we were camping in Wisconsin near the Mississippi, we discovered that many locals were upset about possible frac sand mines in the area. Turns out that fracking requires special sand -- and lots of it.

[broark01]

Me Again wrote:

h2guy wrote:
, there are too many KoolAid sippers that will refuse to believe this.

It is 100% correct that it takes good water to make good KoolAid! However corporations are into selling KoolAid also! I have my doubtful hat on whenever I drink theirs.

Chris

Yep corporations that employ Americans in America. I have always worked for a "corporation" and my father before me. I have lived a good life because of corporations.

[abom2]

I have been following the work in my RV since 07. Refinery expansions, worked in Tioga, ND, then on to Chicago. Presently I am working the Eagle Ford in South Texas. I guess I was prepped to be be away from home with two hitches in the Marines, then two more in the Army. Always away from home, wife, kids. I have missed out on a lot of my kids growing up but they always had what they needed. They sometimes had what they wanted. I did ensure that each had the chance to go to college, something I always desired.

I have taken courses, but work or our country called and I never completed in a timely enough manner to come out with a degree.

Is it a tough life. Yep.

My loving and loyal wife of 30+ yrs has been the foundation that has enabled me to do this work. It has been tough at times but our children are grown and on their way in the world. Now I work to enable us to hopefully one day retire and hopefully full-time together.

I trust neither side. Today it seems no side will give anything but half truths at best. Most just spout innuendo, catchy phrases, or just plain old lie's. Does not matter who- Citizens Groups, Government, Free Press, Press in general, business. I research the best I can, listen to the drivel, filter out the B.S., and finally make my own decision.

[Me_Again]

h2guy wrote:
, there are too many KoolAid sippers that will refuse to believe this.

It is 100% correct that it takes good water to make good KoolAid! However corporations are into selling KoolAid also! I have my doubtful hat on whenever I drink theirs.

Chris

[h2guy]

westend wrote:

Me Again wrote:
And how many years will it be before we fully become aware of the damage the chemicals are doing that they are pumping into the ground to extract the oil.

In the end this is going to be very expensive oil! Far beyond what the eye sees today! Clean pure water is a staple of life for most things to live, including man!

Chris

This assumes a few things: oil drillers use hazardous chemicals, the chemical introduced affects the water reserve, the damage assumed will be cumulative and of long duration.
I'm not a "drill at all expense" kind of guy but most folks don't have their facts straight. The drilling in ND and consequent extraction of oil is at a depth of 5K feet below grade. The bottom of the aquifer is at about 500 ft. There is about a mile of rock between the water reserve and oil basin.
Is there potential for damage to the aquifer? Yes, but probably more from depletion from using the water and surface contamination than drilling.

Well said.

Unfortunately however, there are too many KoolAid sippers that will refuse to believe this.

[westend]

Me Again wrote:
And how many years will it be before we fully become aware of the damage the chemicals are doing that they are pumping into the ground to extract the oil.

In the end this is going to be very expensive oil! Far beyond what the eye sees today! Clean pure water is a staple of life for most things to live, including man!

Chris

This assumes a few things: oil drillers use hazardous chemicals, the chemical introduced affects the water reserve, the damage assumed will be cumulative and of long duration.
I'm not a "drill at all expense" kind of guy but most folks don't have their facts straight. The drilling in ND and consequent extraction of oil is at a depth of 5K feet below grade. The bottom of the aquifer is at about 500 ft. There is about a mile of rock between the water reserve and oil basin.
Is there potential for damage to the aquifer? Yes, but probably more from depletion from using the water and surface contamination than drilling.

[C_SL]

Me Again wrote:
And how many years will it be before we fully become aware of the damage the chemicals are doing that they are pumping into the ground to extract the oil.

In the end this is going to be very expensive oil! Far beyond what the eye sees today! Clean pure water is a staple of life for most things to live, including man!

Chris

That could be so true!!

[Me_Again]

And how many years will it be before we fully become aware of the damage the chemicals are doing that they are pumping into the ground to extract the oil.

In the end this is going to be very expensive oil! Far beyond what the eye sees today! Clean pure water is a staple of life for most things to live, including man!

Chris

[SDcampowneroper]

And what a price those who have called western ND home for generations are paying. Their farm & ranch family lifestyle is gone forever. Crowds everywhere for anything. Commodity, property prices through the roof. Not just for the transient workers, for them as well. Traffic on any road is bumper to bumper, and taking a beating from the heavy trucks. Can you blame those who are staying for trying to make the best of the situation? $ Ca Ching$
Monday aft. on the way home I stopped to visit our regular guest Dave, a 3rd gen. rancher south of Williston. County & state regulations prohibit them from renting rv spaces their wastewater system is not designed for, are not state health dep't licensed for. His family is not cashing in in the presumed way.
As a boomer in my previous career ( pipe welder, UA local 254) I have understanding for both sides of this coin. For 22 years I traveled to work, living in my rv whenever, wherever possible.
Never in that long time have I seen for so many, such sacrifice of comfort and security in exchange for a vision of a better tommorow.
Honor and learn from these toughest of rvers. its the real full time.