Progress - Oil Impact

Williston tackles its biggest project, Page 3.

Downtown Williston getting updated look, Page 5.

No time for MWEC to rest on its laurels, Page 8.

Minot Daily News

SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2015

Oil & Gas Impact

Jill Schramm/MDN

Workers with contractor Rice Lake Construction Group pour concrete for a clarifier at the wastewater treatment facility under construction in Watford City March 11.

Keeping up with growth Watford City builds wastewater plant

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com WATFORD CITY – Watford City has been scrambling to develop infrastructure to keep pace with its r a p i d growth.

That’s especially been the case when it Smith comes to handling the volume of wastewater being generated in a community that has grown from Kelley about 1,500 residents before the oil boom to an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people receiving city services today.

The community is constructing an $18 million wastewater treatment facility. That construction cost doesn’t include about $3 million in engineering and other “soft” costs. Nor does it include another estimated $12 million for a second phase of construction that

Jill Schramm/MDN

Workers with Rice Lake Construction Group, at left, work on the clarifier for a wastewater treatment facility in Watford City.

In the background is the facility’s oxidation ditch that is under construction and some of the new housing that has been built in the city recently.

Watford City’s existing meeting the needs of the works superintendent. An aerobic bacterial activity and will be needed once the initial plant is completed in lagoon system doesn’t have population, said Justin aeration pond system has See GROW — Page 11 the capacity to continue Smith, the city’s public been added to increase the December.

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Saturday, April 11, 2015

By MARISSA HOWARD Staff Writer mhoward @minotdailynews.com It’s almost like the Gold Rush of the mid-1800’s is happening again before our very eyes. The goosebumps that must have prickled up James Wilson Marshall’s arms when he saw the first flakes of gold in the American River, now on our arms. The quickening hearts in men all over the country who heard the news and made the long and precarious trip to find their own gold, now beating in men and women who hope to “strike oil” in the fields of North Dakota. That was then, this is now. History like a storybook being read not once, but twice.

While it has slowed down since, the oil boom in Minot in the past decade has brought countless individuals and families to the Bakken. Though many of us have heard stories, few still really know what it feels like to walk in their shoes and leave everything behind–a home, friends, family–in search of a better life. This is a look into the lives of one young family that did just that and risked it all, simply because of a promise that this place, this once-sleepy little town called Minot, offered so much more than it seemed.

Isaiah and Grace Deal were like any other young couple, striving for degrees at a college in Branson, Mo., with high hopes and profound dreams. Married in May 2011, they lived in an RV on their parents’ driveway for their first year of marriage and worked parttime jobs until they spent the summer of 2012 in Estes Park in Colorado.

“After a few months of fun, we decided it was time to get serious,” said Isaiah Deal. “It just got us thinking, ‘What are we going to do with our lives?’”

After hearing about Minot’s growth and the then 3.1 percent unemployment rate on the news, Isaiah Deal decided to take a road trip to Minot in October of that year to see if what he was hearing was true.

“You would walk into places and they’d try to get you to work that day,” said Isaiah Deal of his trip. “They didn’t even care if you had a place to live.”

Since he was only in Minot for a few days, Isaiah Deal planned to sleep in his car during his stay. While out on interviews, he met a resident who offered for him to stay in his home. Now, that family is one of the Deals’ nearest and dearest friends.

“It gave me a feeling of what the people here are like,” said Isaiah Deal. “I could definitely tell this is a hard-working community, too.”

His wife, Grace Deal,

Marissa Howard/MDN

Isaiah and Grace Deal pose with their 1-year-old daughter. The young couple moved to Minot in 2013 because of the continued opportunity from the oil boom. nodded, thinking back to when her husband had returned. “He came back that month and he was like, ‘It’s real, there are jobs every-

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where.’ That changed things for us.”

Isaiah and Grace Deal decided to take the step, leaving everything they knew behind. In February 2013, Isaiah Deal moved to Minot, with his wife coming just three weeks later.

“It was tough–we had no family in Minot and we’ve always lived close to family,” she said. “I had never pictured myself moving to North Dakota. It’s one of those states that you learn about in Geography and that’s pretty much it.”

The Deals sold their RV and fit everything they owned in their car, setting off for a future that was unwritten.

Within just a few days of living in Minot, Isaiah Deal received a job offer from Cameron International, the company he still works for today. Within a week, he found an apartment.

“I feel like it snowed every day the first month I got here,” Isaiah said with a laugh. “We definitely had to learn to adjust to this weather, even though it’s almost impossible to adjust to weather this cold.”

Still, he said, the job opportunities make the

‘Minot kind of embodies the original American dream of working hard for a new life, and a better future.’

– Grace Deal, family member who traveled to Minot for the oil boom frigid weather worth it.

“It was so refreshing to not be an outsider for wanting to work hard,” said Isaiah Deal. “We both grew up in hardworking families and a lot of economies now don’t fit that mindset. But here, it’s different.”

His wife smiled. “Minot kind of embodies the original American dream of working hard for a new life, and a better future.”

When his wife moved up shortly afterward she worked at a variety of jobs, mainly to meet people and have fun, she said. Less than one year ago, the Deals had their first child–a beautiful baby girl and a natural-born North Dakotan.

“There’s something neat about having a kid up here and starting a family,” said Grace Deal. “We really do love Minot.”

While the Deals said they would probably not have picked oil as their future, they said it’s worked out better than they could have hoped. They have even encouraged friends and fam-

ily to move to Minot as well.

“We told my cousin about the job opportunities up here,” said Isaiah Deal.

“He came to Minot with 14 dollars in his bank account, and now he’s making upwards of 50,000 dollars a year.” He continued, “A lot of people think that the type of people who come up here don’t have jobs and can’t find them anywhere else.

Well, it’s also a lot of younger people who just want to start a new life; people who will take that chance and that risk for something better.”

When asked how their lives would be different if the Deals hadn’t taken that chance and that risk in moving to Minot, they answered that they would probably be doing just fine, but with the distinctive community, unique opportunities and sweet people that Minot has to offer, they wouldn’t be nearly as happy. They both plan on staying in Minot for years to come, a place they now confidently call their home.

“People from Minot can either have a negative view of oil or embrace it–embrace the changes and all of the growth. It’s great to see how much the people here have chosen to accept the new people and new things, because we were one of them,” said Grace Deal.

“Minot is such a melting pot, it reminds me of what America was for immigrants. Being able to be a part of that and the growth is once in a lifetime.”

During events like the Gold Rush and the oil boom of North Dakota, people often hear numbers. Things like a still-low 2.8 percent unemployment rate in Minot in 2014 and a projected 11 percent growth in economy-wide employment in the next three years. What is not often shared is that each of these numbers is a person, a family with quickening hearts and fast-paced dreams that left behind an RV and a life in order to start their own. Minot may be growing, but its people are growing with it.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

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Jill Schramm/MDN

A few of the cranes used in constructing Williston’s wastewater treatment plant are on site as construction was under way in early March.

Williston tackles its biggest project

By JILL SCHRAMM

Williston invested $7 million into additional treatment before disStaff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com charge as an interim measure.

Those improvements will be WILLISTON – A new $105 mil- incorporated into the new wastelion wastewater treatment facility water treatment facility.

The wastewater facility is being under construction in Williston built to process six million gallons represents a giant of wastewater a day, which would step for the city. accommodate a population up to “This is the 60,000. The plant will be expandbiggest project the able to serve a population of city has ever 120,000, although that is beyond done,” public what Williston predicts for growth works director in the foreseeable future.

David Tuan said.

The new wastewater facility Despite the Tuan has been three years in the design. substantial cost, the city has forged ahead because Some aspects related to discharge into the Missouri River took up to it must.

“We are over capacity. There’s five years and required working no way we could not build it,” with the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Construction started in Tuan said.

The present lagoon system October. The city looks for comtreats for total suspended solids, pletion by 2017. Portions of the biochemical oxygen and E. coli plant gradually will come on line and has been adequate for the city sooner, starting at the end of this year. for many years.

The plant will process the “It’s low maintenance,” Tuan said, “and very effective, but you wastewater to a higher degree, have to provide the right amount treating for ammonia, phosphorus of time for that treatment, and and other elements as well as using ultraviolet light disinfection. that’s our limiting factor.”

“That process is miles more effiWastewater needs to spend 180 days in the lagoon system for prop- cient than what we have now,” er treatment. The wastewater that Tuan said.

Solids that are produced by the the city generates from an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 people is hav- plant are further processed and ing to move through in 45 days to broken down into a clarified liqmake room for the incoming vol- uid, which is sent back through the treatment process. This recyume.

To address that deficiency, cling is continually repeated,

‘We are over capacity. There’s no way we could not build it.’

— Williston public works director David Tuan reducing the solids many times.

Eventually, the end product is dried and pressed.

The city plans to use the compressed solids as topsoil for the landfill and will seek to market it as a soil fertilizer. It is desirable as fertilizer for corn but may not be as valuable for other crops more commonly grown in western North Dakota, Tuan said. However, people may be interested in the product for gardens.

“It’s safe to go back in the ground,” Tuan said.

AE2S, the engineering firm involved in the design, also is working with the city on its water treatment plant.

The creation of Western Area Water Supply brought various water providers in the region together to create a system served by the Williston water plant. The plant’s expansion has been ongoing since.

The plant currently produces 14 million gallons of water a day, twice its initial capacity. The latest

expansion will increase the output to 21 million gallons. Future expansion phases would increase the production to 28 million gallons and eventually 35 million gallons. At that point, there no longer will be room at the plant location for further expansion, Tuan said.

“We have to figure out a way to get to 50 million,” he said.

The water treatment plant is helping the city get a head start on training employees for its new wastewater facility. The software and control systems will be the same in the two plants so employees can get experience in the water plant that will translate to the wastewater facility.

Staff size will increase from five to 15 to 20 people once the wastewater treatment plant is commissioned.

The plant will include a hightech laboratory. Tuan said the laboratory will offer an educational tool for schools that want to bring students to visit.

To fund its wastewater facility,

Williston borrowed from a state revolving fund. Williston is using proceeds from its gross production tax revenue to repay the loan. The city auditor’s office reports the city received $33 million from the tax last year. The drop in oil prices last year could affect the receipts going forward, but the city hopes to cover the bond issue without having to raise water and sewer rates.

A project the size of the wastewater facility is beyond what can be paid for through rates, Tuan said.

“Even if we increased our rates to be the highest in the state, it would be a drop in the bucket,” he said.

Wastewater treatment may not be the most exciting way to spend money, nor will the new treatment likely be noticeable for residents once it comes on line. But that is a good thing. The plant is designed to ensure residents can run water and flush toilets as they always have without giving a second thought to whether the system will take the waste and keep the environment safe.

“Day to day, people won’t know it’s there and they, hopefully, won’t notice the change in their service when we make the transition,” Tuan said. “It’s definitely going to provide the treatment we need and then some. ... It’s an achievement for the city of Williston to have a system that’s this capable.”

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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Jill Schramm/MDN

Looking at a Ward County map, highway engineer Dana Larsen points out an area near Kenmare, where the county completed major roadwork last construction season.

Counties spending more on roads

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com Dennis Nelson remembers the $2.5 million budget that the Williams County Highway Office operated under when he joined the department as superintendent in 2005.

This year, the budget is about $100 million.

It’s not a figure Nelson sees going down anytime soon. Even though many of

the roads have been upgraded to handle the oil traffic, just maintaining roads is much more intensive than in years past, he said.

Nelson said the county’s upgrades have given all residents better roads on which to drive. State funding has helped make that possible.

“We are very thankful for what we have gotten so far from the Legislature. They have come through in the past,” he said.

Arlo Borud, Mountrail County commission chair-

‘It’s not only just for the oil but it helps our agricultural farmers and ranchers, too. We are still behind quite a ways. We just haven’t had the funding to do all the projects that are needed to be done.’

— Arlo Borud, Mountrail County commission chairman man in Stanley, estimated his county’s road budget has increased 300 percent over the past several years.

Mountrail County has rebuilt and repaved roads, bringing them up to the same weight standards as state roads.

“It’s not only just for the oil but it helps our agricultural farmers and ranchers, too,” Borud said. “We are still behind quite a ways. We just haven’t had the funding to do all the projects that are needed to be done.”

The emergency funding,

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or “surge” funding, approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor at the end of February, will provide about $38 million. It is less than hoped but enough to get three or four priorities funded, Borud said.

“We have about $99 million worth of projects all ready to go,” he said.

Mountrail County has 1,600 miles of road system, which now includes 50 to 70 miles of township roads taken over by the county in the past three years. The townships turned those main haul roads for the oil traffic over to the county, which is better able to fund the improvements.

McKenzie County will apply its surge money to paving a gravel road in the northern end of the county that carries much of the traffic involved in the oil industry. Known as the northern bypass, the project would upgrade the existing curvy, rough road that runs from U.S. Highway 85 to the east.

The two-year, $101 million project covers nearly 30 miles. The first half is scheduled to be done this year.

The county has a $191 million budget for roads this year, but even more money is being spent on highway construction by the state to try to keep up with the activity as it develops around the county, said McKenzie County Commission Chairman Richard Cayko, Fairview, Mont. One of those projects will need to be improvements to the narrow, two-lane N.D. Highways 200 and 58, which will be pressured to serve traffic associated with a new rail transloading facility on the western edge of

the county, he said.

The southern and western areas of Ward County are experiencing heavy truck traffic related to oil activity, while the eastern part of the county faces heavy construction traffic due to growth, said Dana Larsen, county highway engineer.

The county has increased blading from every couple of weeks to twice a week in areas, he said. Although built to last 20 years, the county road through Kenmare was overhauled after just 12.

“A lot of our roads designed to have 20 years of life are only making it 10,” Larsen said. “The amount of traffic has been what we anticipated for 20 years.

Another big impact we see is that our projects sometimes cost 30 to 40 percent more.”

The high cost of road repairs has meant a combination of delayed projects and greater dependence on state aid. Larsen said Ward County had been on a schedule to redo all its gravel roads to bring them up to current road standards until several years ago. The schedule was interrupted by more urgent needs.

Flooding issues have drained about $7 million in local funds from the road budget. Fortunately for the county, the federal government provided about 80 percent of the needed funds for flood repairs.

Larsen said increased money from the state has been significant in keeping up with the road repairs.

The county has few oil wells so generates little oil tax revenue and much of what it gets goes to help affected townships.

“I think we have done a good job of trying to make the best decisions we can with the money we have and making it stretch to where I think our roads are in pretty good condition,” Larsen said.

Jill Schramm/MDN

A couple of pickups head toward U.S. Highway 85 on a rural road in northern McKenzie County March 11. The county has plans to improve the road to better handle oil-related traffic.

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Jill Schramm/MDN

A section of Williston’s Main Street was reconstructed with new underground infrastructure, paving and lighting in 2014. At left, a new mixed-use building is going up.

Downtown Williston getting updated look

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com WILLISTON – Downtown Williston is determined not to be left out of the growth occurring in the city.

Planning for the downtown’s future began in 2012.

“The downtown plan looks at the feel of the downtown – how we create more pedestrian-friendly areas and how we look at development projects. It also talks a little about streetscape and physical feel of downtown,” said Rachel Ressler, senior planner for the city.

Last summer, physical work started with replacement of water and sewer and street changes on about two and half blocks of Main Street in the downtown area.

Public Works director David Tuan said the project was more complicated than originally expected because of issues such as building structures that extended out under the street. However, the city was able to work with businesses to create as little disruption as possible during the construction, he said.

Another three blocks of Main Street will undergo similar work this year to complete the project.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation, city and local parking authority all have been involved in the project. The Main Street

plan was developed with the help of RDG Planning and Design of Omaha and Des Moines and KLJ, an engineering firm with an office in Williston.

Instead of two driving lanes going in either direction, the changes have one lane in each direction and a center turn lane. With parallel parking on the side of the street, the result was wider lanes and a better driving experience.

In addition, the project added colored concrete walkways, curb bump-outs, new sidewalk and lighting.

Plans are to add trees and planters.

Angela DeMars, owner of Cooks on Main since 2010 and president of the Williston Downtowners Association, said merchants welcome the physical changes.

“It’s been a well needed improvement. I think it really brings our downtown up to date. People are wanting more of a walkable destination,” she said.

As far as the atmosphere, DeMars said she loves the downtown.

“I definitely would not choose to have my business located anywhere else,” she said.

Karissa Kjos, executive director for Williston Downtowners Association, said there’s a sense of cooperation downtown.

“We all want to see each other succeed,” she said.

“We don’t want to compete with each other. We want to

help each other.”

Kjos said she likes the vitality she sees restored to downtown, too.

“It’s nice to see the spirit,” she said. “It’s a very friendly atmosphere.” The feeling of safety has increased, and beautification efforts are scheduled and will follow, she said.

“I think it will be great once it is completely done.

More people like to hang out in the downtown. It’s all generations,” she said.

“Downtown is where lots of things are happening.”

Part of what is happening is new construction that started last fall on the $15 million Renaissance on Main mixed-use project. The building will have retail on the main floor, offices on the second floor and two floors of apartments, with interior parking. The large project is the exception downtown, though.

“What I see mostly is smaller businesses coming in,” Ressler said. “We have a lot of smaller investments happening. There’s a lot of people using our Renaissance Zone funds to fix up their buildings.”

In the last two years, five restaurants opened or came under new ownership, she said. A plaza building was converted to retail space for several small stores.

Kjos estimated as many as 10 new business have come to downtown in the past five years, including See TOWN — Page 9

‘The downtown plan looks at the feel of the downtown – how we create more pedestrianfriendly areas and how we look at development projects. It also talks a little about streetscape and physical feel of downtown.’

— Rachel Ressler, senior planner for Williston ed Best ! t o V the ving f d Li o t e Besssist in A

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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Submitted photo

This map from the North Dakota Department of Transportation shows the phases of construction on a truck reliever route around Williston. The fourlaning of the route will be finished this year.

State invests billions in N.D. highways

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com The completion of a truck reliever route in Williston this year will check another project off the list of state highway improvements planned in western North Dakota. But there is plenty of construction yet to come, including additional truck reliever routes proposed near New Town and Williston.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation has spent about $940 million in state projects from 2008 to 2012 to preserve and improve transportation infrastructure in western counties and is investing an additional $1.16 billion in the 20132015 biennium.

The 2015 Legislature put $450 million of work on the fast track in a surge bill in February.

The Department of Transportation reports it plans to use the surge money toward projects that, in western North Dakota, include enhancing load-carrying capacity and restoring pavement on the following highways: ® N.D. Highway 23 from Johnson’s Corner to Fort Berthold Reservation

boundary. ® U.S. Highway 2 between Williston and Minot and between Minot and Granville. ® U.S. Highway 52 from Junction 5 to north of Kenmare. ® Highway 52 from Highway 2 to Sawyer. ® N.D. Highway 41 from Velva to Norwich. ® N.D. Highway 60 from the junction of ND 3 north to the junction of N.D. Highway 5 by Willow City. ® U.S. Highway 83 near Garrison Corner to near the junction of Highway 23. ® U.S. Highway 12 from Hettinger to the state line. ® N.D. Highway 200 from the state line to the Yellowstone Bridge. ® N.D. Highway 22 from Manning to Killdeer. ® Interstate 94 from the state line east 12 miles. ® Interstate 94 from Little Missouri River east to Fryburg. ® Interstate 94 from Taylor to Youngman’s Butte.

Other surge money will go to rebuild New Town’s Main Street; Highway 23 in Watford City from the city limits to the Highway 23 Bypass to serve the new school; and Highway 40 from the junction of Highway 2 to the Tioga overpass. Some funding will be used for environmental work on state highways in

Williston and Watford City.

Surge money also is allotted to building truck bypasses and reliever routes.

Funding will go toward design, planning, engineering, rights of way, environmental and other work on the Dickinson permanent bypass, Killdeer bypass and the New Town Northwest and Williston Northeast truck reliever routes. The Killdeer bypass is scheduled to go out on construction bids this spring.

Other projects include construction bid openings on Dickinson’s State Avenue railroad overpass and traffic signals at intersections in or near Dickinson, Alexander and Watford City.

Past spending by the Department of Transportation already has led to major changes. The bypass projects, by community, are:

WILLISTON

A $56.3 million, 13-mile project is creating a four-lane highway routing truck traffic around the western edge of Williston.

The first two phases was completed in 2014.

Motorists are now traveling on the two lanes completed on the truck reliever route, which directs traffic west of Williston and connects with the current U.S. Highway 85 and U.S. Highway 2 intersection four miles west of the city. The route will be

expanded into a four-lane highway this year.

The project will improve traffic flow through Williston and areas west of the city and will help meet the forecasted traffic demand for the area.

NEW TOWN

The state, in cooperation with tribal and local governments, completed a $25 million truck reliever route See ROADS — Page 10

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Submitted photo

DRC member Theodora Bird Bear testifies in September 2014 at an oil conditioning hearing held by the North Dakota Industrial Commission and Department of Mineral Resources.

Dakota Resource Council Activist group has long history of work on landowner

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com Whether the topic is fair trade or clean air, Dakota Resource Council’s mission remains the same. The nonprofit, grassroots organization is all about making the voices of North Dakotans heard.

In that respect, the organization has been successful, said DRC board member Theodora Bird Bear, Mandaree.

“I would say the successes are that people are being empowered to speak out, whether in the Legislature, through letters to the editor, comments on radio programs. People are more willing to speak out now. I think that’s a real success,” she said.

These days, DRC members are speaking out about the impacts of oil and gas development on western North Dakota, particularly as they affect the land and water. Members have called for better regulation of radioactive oil-field waste, improved oil and saltwater pipeline safety and increased rules for oil transport. Bird Bear said people have a need and right to know when it comes to oil impacts, whether it involves siting of a landfill or requiring companies to disclose fracking chemicals.

“People want to know what’s going on near them and in western North Dakota. We love our land.

We care for our land. Most of us will live here all our lives, so we have a commitment to this land,” she said. “We will just stand up to protect our commitment to this land and to express it and to let the folks in Bismarck know their decision-making impacts western North Dakota folks – DRC members – and we want a voice in that decision making.”

The Legislature this year killed a bill that reflected concerns of some members that state regulators are too lax with the oil industry.

The bill had sought an audit of the North Dakota Health Department and Oil & Gas Division. Bird Bear said the bill had value even if defeated.

Submitted photo

DRC gathered members for one of many events in North Dakota to talk about oil and gas issues and brainstorm ideas to resolve problems for landowners.

“It was important to make a point that the regulators for North Dakota over the oil industry need to pay attention and that people are watching,” she said. “What they do or don’t do affects us directly out here in western North Dakota.”

DRC started in 1978 when landowners from three oil and gas counties came together to address shared concerns about the lack of surface owners rights. Nearly every existing law granting surface owner rights came from work that DRC did, said former DRC chairman Donny Nelson of Keene.

In recent years, DRC members have sensed a public animosity against them because of the group’s stance on issues related to oil development. Labeled a leftwing environmental group, DRC has had policy makers and lawmakers shy away and become less inclined to listen to members’ concerns, Nelson said.

The labeling also hurts efforts to get landowners

involved.

“They make it seem like everybody is an out-of-state environmentalist in DRC, and there really isn’t any. It’s North Dakota people,” Nelson said.

DRC as an organization has made statements that have rankled, such as blaming North Dakota officials for an oil train explosion in West Virginia because of weak state regulations for

managing oil volatility.

“Over the top” is how The Forum in Fargo editorialized about the DRC response. Calling DRC antifossil fuels, The Forum said DRC’s voice is necessary in the energy debate but it will be tuned out when it goes from informed and measured to foolish and shrill.

Nelson had responded to the editorial in a letter, saying technology is available to

stabilize the oil so it is safer to transport by train – a process used in other states.

State officials first denied the oil is explosive, then reluctantly imposed weak regulations, he wrote.

“The fact is North Dakota officials are allowing an explosive product to be sent by train across the continent,” he wrote.

See DRC — Page 11

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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Jill Schramm/MDN

System operators Eric Bozeman, standing, and Bryan Foust monitor the control room for Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative in the Williston office March 4.

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com WILLISTON – Making a practice of celebrating milestone growth could keep the atmosphere constantly festive at Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative. There’s little time to party, though, with all the activity necessary to meet the large demand for electricity.

The 30-megawatt cooperative saw its load increase to 200 megawatts by 2013, only to reach 300 megawatts in 2014. The cooperative was providing 356 megawatts as of January and it continues to grow.

“We are probably going to hit 400 megawatts in 2015,” general manager Dale Haugen said.

As a comparison, each of the two units at the Antelope Valley generation station near Beulah produces 450 megawatts. Antelope Valley is a major source of electricity for Basin Electric Cooperative, which provides power to rural cooperatives such as Mountrail-Williams.

By 2035, MWEC projects it will need to supply 900 megawatts – equivalent to Antelope Valley’s generation – to serve its customers.

“That’s an audacious goal,” Haugen said.

The demand for electricity isn’t coming from the traditional customer. Haugen

“All the oil companies are saying, ‘Continue to invest in infrastructure. Let’s not get behind like we were before. Let’s get to where we need to be.’”

— Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative general manager Dale Haugen recalled when 80 percent of the electrical demand came from farms and residences.

Today, 58 percent of the demand is from large commercial customers, primarily oil wells and supporting businesses. Another 23 percent of demand is from natural gas processing plants.

Residential use is down to 7 percent of the total.

The current slowdown in oil activity due to a drop in oil prices is considered a breather that the cooperative plans to take advantage of while it can. The growth long-term isn’t expected to stop, based on information the cooperative is hearing from its oil-field customers.

“All the oil companies are saying, ‘Continue to invest in infrastructure. Let’s not get behind like we were before. Let’s get to where we need to be,’” Haugen said.

He admits he feels at times like a construction manager with how quickly the cooperative is growing.

MWEC had 14 substations in 2006. Today there are 60, including one that just serves a gas plant. The substations couldn’t come on fast enough as the system

struggled on the brink of overload until construction could catch up. System reliability has improved as a result of that construction.

Before the oil development ramped up, there was a need to upgrade 40- to 50year-old infrastructure, but the cost to customers would have been too high, Haugen said. The population was declining. Farms were becoming fewer. Schools were closing.

“If we had to borrow, we couldn’t have done it,” he said.

The oil boom reversed the population trend and generated the finances needed to make the improvements.

“We almost rebuilt our whole system. It’s good for another 50 years. Rates didn’t go up,” Haugen said. “It has brought this co-op a second breath of life.”

This year, the cooperative is putting in 40 miles of new line in the Blaisdell area to serve non-oil customers.

That is expected to complete MWEC’s rebuild of its system.

See MWEC — Page 9

Jill Schramm/MDN

Dale Haugen, general manager at Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, stands outside a large workshop under construction March 4. The shop is scheduled for completion in September.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

MWEC Continued from Page 8

Keeping the cooperative staffed has been another challenge. It has been difficult to find the number of employees needed, and the pressures on employees can make it hard to retain workers. However, the co-op has attracted employees from around the nation who are happy in their new community.

Eric Bozeman is an Ohio native who was working in North Carolina before coming to MWEC three years ago. He earned his power systems degree from Bismarck State College while working as a system operator for MWEC. “I came up here looking to get into a new industry,” he said. “It’s been a good place to settle and learn a new industry that’s been very vital to the community.”

Systems operator Bryan Foust, a Colorado native, came to Williston in 2010 with his dog and motorhome just before a major snowstorm hit.

He survived and stayed.

Having worked in the telecommunications industry in Texas before being laid off, he said he appreciates the opportunities in Williston.

Adam Serna came from Ohio, where he had worked in the natural gas industry, to help MWEC with its mapping.

“I was just looking for something new,” he said.

“This was probably the best job offer.”

Haugen said the cooperative should be expanding its employment, but first it needs to expand its operational facilities. Many of the cooperative’s 104 employees work out of modular buildings that sit on the headquarters property next to a small office building, which has one set of restrooms serving the entire complex.

The cooperative is building a new 82,000-square-foot shop to replace a 6,000-square-foot, outdated shop from the 1950s.

The building is scheduled for completion in September.

A new office building is in the design phase. To construct the building on the current property, the cooperative will have to move to rented quarters temporarily so the existing building can be torn down and a new building erected.

The new building is expected to be ready in 2019.

Minot Daily News PROGRESS

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Big bucks in the Basin Oil and gas economic output increases 750 percent since BISMARCK — The oil and gas industry has seen its economic output rise by 750 percent to $43 billion since 2005, according to a study conducted by the North Dakota State University’s Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.

The study also found that the industry directly supported 55,137 full-time equivalent jobs and supported another 26,403 secondary full-time jobs. This increase represents the growing importance oil and gas development has on the state’s overall economic health.

“This study helps confirm that the petroleum industry is one of the largest basic-sector industries in North Dakota,” said Dean Bangsund, co-author of the study and research scientist for the department at NDSU. “Although activity is concentrated in the western part of the state, the magnitude of the contributions to both the state and local governments and the sheer volume of secondary economic effects in nearly all sectors of the North Dakota economy would suggest that the economic effects of the industry are felt statewide.”

Because the industry relies on hundreds of contractors and subcontractors, the economic contributions extend beyond the mining and extraction industries.

According to the study, retail trade once again saw the largest impact, taking in $11.3 billion of the $43 billion. Households, or personal income, saw the second-largest impact at $9.3 billion, and the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate industry ($4.5 billion) overtook the government ($4.4 billion), which was the third-largest beneficiary in 2011. More than six other industries in North Dakota also benefited from oil and gas development.

“The positive impacts of oil and gas development extend far beyond just the energy industry, and benefit many of our small and independent businesses in the oil patch and across the state,” said Rae Ann Kelsch, state director of the North Dakota chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business. “This is great news, but what is perhaps more exciting for our organization and members is the fact that the $43 billion only represents 48 percent of the total economic output. That means there is a demand for services within the state that our members can begin taking a look at and capitalizing

‘The positive impacts of oil and gas development extend far beyond just the energy industry, and benefit many of our small and independent businesses in the oil patch and across the state. This is great news, but what is perhaps more exciting for our organization and members is the fact that the $43 billion only represents 48 percent of the total economic output. That means there is a demand for services within the state that our members can begin taking a look at and capitalizing upon to keep even more of those dollars here in our state.’

– Rae Ann Kelsch, state director of the North Dakota chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business upon to keep even more of those dollars here in our state.”

Among the study’s key findings: ® The oil and gas industry generated $43 billion for North Dakota’s economy: In 2013, direct impacts of the oil and gas industry were $17 billion and secondary impacts were $25.7 billion for a total of $43 billion in business activity. For every dollar spent in the state by the oil and gas industry, another $1.43 in additional business activity was generated. ® The oil and gas industry created more than 80,000 jobs statewide: The study reveals that the oil and gas industry’s economic importance to the state includes direct employment for 55,137 fulltime jobs and secondary employment of 26,403 full-time equivalent jobs. ® The industry contributed $9.3 billion in economy-wide personal income: The study reveals that the oil and gas industry contributed $9.3 billion in economy-wide personal income, including $1.425 billion in in-state private royalties and $300 million in lease bonuses. This is a 382 percent increase since 2005.

The oil and gas industry generated $4.4 billion in government revenues: According to the study, the oil and gas industry generated a total of $4.4 billion in government revenues, including: ® $2.9 billion in gross production and severance taxes;

® $654 million in royalties, including $304 million in state royalties, $349 million in federal royalties, including tribal royalties; ® $49.6 million in state lease bonuses, and $4.1 million in federal lease bonuses that were returned to the state; ® $62.6 million in direct sales and use taxes; ® $50.5 million in corporate and personal income taxes; ® $54.6 million in licenses, permits, and fees; ® $12.5 million in charitable donations; ® $322.3 million in indirect state government general tax collections. ® The oil and gas industry supported $28.5 billion in non-industry business activity: The oil and gas industry benefited other industries and sectors statewide, including $11.3 billion in statewide retail sales; $4.5 billion in finance, insurance and real estate; $2.8 billion in business and personal services; $2.3 billion in communications and public utilities; $2.2 billion in professional and social services; $1.8 billion in construction; $1.5 billion in other sectors (various ag and mining); $1.3 billion in manufacturing; and, $838 million in transportation.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council has commissioned the study each biennium since 2005, and economic benefits have risen dramatically. Economic impacts

have grown by 750 percent since the first study in 2005. State and local government revenues grew by more than $3.73 billion — or 1,150 percent — since 2005, while industry-wide direct employment grew by 992 percent from 5,051 in 2005 to 56,137 in 2013.

“We’ve seen a dramatic growth in production, and along with it, a dramatic growth in the economic contributions and associated job creation,” said Ron Ness, president of the NDPC. “Obviously, as prices decrease, the benefits previously enjoyed by the state government, households and other industries will be much lower as we work through the current price drop – no doubt impacts many are beginning to feel. We must be cautious to not further hinder these positive economic impacts through onerous or unnecessary regulation.”

The study was conducted by research scientist Dean Bangsund and Nancy Hodur, research assistant professor at the NDSU Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics. Bangsund and Hodur surveyed firms engaged in exploration and development, extraction and production, transportation, and processing of crude oil and natural gas. Data that was measured in this study but not included in previous surveys was an assessment of capital expenditures for infrastructure projects. To view the full study, ageconsearch.umn.edu/.

Jill Schramm/MDN

The first phase of Williston’s Main Street improvement project created wider driving lanes and a more pedestrian-friendly downtown.

Town Continued from Page 5

three since last fall.

As activity has picked up downtown, the Downtowners Association has needed to reconsider its parking arrangements.

Rich & Associates of Southfield, Mich., conducted a parking study

that is prompting some changes.

“We are going to be encouraging our employees to park in our parking lots, get them off the streets and allow the streets to be used as customer parking.

Hopefully, that will make a big difference in how downtown functions,” Ressler said. “We are also looking at changing our parking requirements.”

Currently, there are no time limits on street parking. The city is considering a limit of 90 minutes to three hours, depending on the street, with some unlimited parking.

“A parking problem is a good thing to have because it means people are down here,” Ressler said Once the construction and

parking logistics are out of the way, efforts will shift to creating a downtown arts community.

“A lot of that has kind of happened organically over the last year,” Ressler said. For instance, a concert series kicks off this summer with bands, children’s games and longer store hours.

“So that should be really exciting for the downtown and should

help bring a little bit of spark back,” Ressler said.

Kjos also would like to see downtown blossom with murals, more events and greater capitalization on the history.

As progress is made downtown, the excitement is building, Ressler said. While there is more that needs to be done, she added, “I think we have a great thing going.”

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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Submitted photo

State, city and tribal officials cut the ribbon a new truck reliever route at New Town last November.

Roads Continued from Page 6

around New Town in 2014, rerouting traffic from N.D. Highway 23 around the northeast of the city.

An estimated 9,000 vehicles traveled through the heart of New Town each day before the 3.2-mile bypass opened.

The New Town Truck Reliever Route is a two-lane roadway completed last November. Finish work remains to be done during the current construction season.

Crews also worked on improvements to N.D. Highway 1804 in 2014. Paving, widening and inter-

section work was completed from Highway 1804 south to the junction of Highway 23. This project also included reconstruction of the intersection, paving, new intersection signals and an additional center turn lane on Highway 1804.

This year, the state and city plan improvements to Main Street.

about 12,000 vehicles, mainly trucks, were traveling through Alexander each day.

The state and local project is part of a larger plan to enhance the Highway 85 corridor, including the four-laning from Watford City to Williston. The first 14mile segment opened in August 2014 from west of Watford City to just south of Alexander. The projALEXANDER ect is to include replacement of The $24.9 million Alexander the Lewis & Clark Bridge over the Bypass opened last October. The Missouri River near Williston.

3.7-mile, four-lane roadway reroutes traffic from U.S. Highway WATFORD CITY 85 to the west of Alexander, bypassing the center of the town.

The Watford City Bypass projTraffic counts had estimated ect consists of a Southwest

Bypass and a Southeast Bypass.

The Southwest Bypass is a four-lane roadway that begins west of Watford City on Highway 85 and reconnects with Highway 85 south of the city. The 7.58mile bypass project included grading, paving and widening and was completed in the fall of 2014.

The Southeast Bypass project connects Highway 23 east of Watford City to Highway 85 south of Watford City. The bypass project was built to accommodate four lanes of traffic and is nearly six miles long.

Nearly 3,900 trucks were traveling through Watford City each

day before the bypasses were completed last October.

The Department of Transportation and Watford City worked together to install additional roadway light structures on the Highways 85 and 23 corridor.

DICKINSON

The city of Dickinson, Stark County and state are considering the construction of a truck route on the northwest side of Dickinson, from Interstate 94 to N.D. Highway 22. An interim bypass was built in 2013-14 and an interchange project started last year, to be completed this year.

More people means more wastewater concerns

By JILL SCHRAMM Staff Writer jschramm @minotdailynews.com As the population in western North Dakota has grown, the need for more wastewater handling capacity has become a common concern. Most oil patch communities have or will be grappling with it.

John Grubb, sewer and water commissioner on the Tioga City Commission, said his city has been considering a new wastewater system for the past two years. The situation is approaching severe, he said.

Tioga has been updating its existing lagoon system and hopes to build a wastewater treatment plant that would incorporate the lagoon as storage. The city doesn’t have the population base to support a project as costly as needed, though, and the amount of state and oil impact aid coming to the smaller communities isn’t enough to help, Grubb said.

A typical treatment facility for a community of Tioga’s size is in the range of $8 million, which is just a portion of close to $20 million in infrastructure projects that Grubb estimates are needed by the city.

Added to the financial concern is the puzzle of determining the best treatment solution. There are multiple options, and the commission has been cautious in choosing.

“Just making the right decision is a big challenge,” Grubb said.

“It seems we are always two steps behind regardless of what we do,” he added.

“We are hoping we can move forward by spring or summer. We can’t wait that much longer.”

Ross Mayor Wyatt Seibel said his community, having grown from about 50 resi-

dents to between 500 and 600, has been experiencing wastewater issues for some time. An industrial development permitted to house workers has its own drainfield disposal, but the city has been hoping to accommodate that waste with a new lagoon system.

“We were looking at building an entirely different lagoon but we can never get enough funding for it,” Seibel said. “We finally got $1 million to build a much larger lagoon, but it will cost us $3 million to build it.”

The $1 million came from a state oil impact grant.

“We fought for quite a while just to get that,” Seibel said.

The city of Ross this winter was reviewing its options, which included simply de-sludging and draining the existing lagoon.

The city was working earlier this year to get an easement from a landowner to discharge water.

The City of Minot, with already the highest utility rates in the state, is looking at investing $66.5 million in water-related infrastructure in the near future. Minot is in the middle of major expansions and upgrades to several sewer systems and is looking at construction of a $77 million wastewater treatment facility to replace its lagoon and wetlands system, constructed in the 1960s. The first phase of the project, costing more than $47.5 million, is proposed for construction within a couple of years.

Wayne Kern, director of Municipal Facilities in the North Dakota Health Department, said the number of wastewater projects submitted to his division for review has more than doubled since 2010. The department reviews all proposed projects, whether submitted by cities, work camps or

‘We were looking at building an entirely different lagoon but we can never get enough funding for it. We finally got $1 million to build a much larger lagoon, but it will cost us $3 million to build it.’

— Ross Mayor Wyatt Seibel other developments.

Kern noted the increase reflects projects statewide.

However, he added, “The bulk of these are coming from the western part of the

state.”

Additionally, Kern said the department finds more communities moving toward mechanical treatment versus lagoon systems.

Mechanical treatment often is limited to communities that have a river system able to assimilate the discharged, treated water.

The health department operates a revolving loan program for wastewater and storm sewers and has seen dollar requests for assistance from that fund increase fivefold in the last four years.

“Historically, we have always been able to fund a

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project that’s already to go.

It’s our hope to continue to do that. We do have the ability to sell bonds and leverage to get more money to assist communities,” Kern said.

The long list of projects and funding requests indicates plenty of construction activity lies ahead.

“Everything is set up to keep things very busy for a number of years to come,” Kern said.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Minot Daily News PROGRESS

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Submitted photo

DRC member Brenda Jorgenson drives in the Tioga area to show a film crew the many impacts that she and her husband, Richard, have dealt with on family farm land due to oil activity.

DRC Continued from Page 7

At the time, the state was further looking at rules for hauling crude and on April 1 began requiring companies to remove certain liquids and gases from oil before it’s loaded onto rail cars. The action that had been advocated by DRC. DRC doesn’t want to damage the oil industry, Nelson said.

“That’s never going to happen. None of us are wanting it to go away. We just want them to do it better,” he said.

“That’s all most of these issues are is trying to make it better. There’s better ways of doing things, not to just headlong rush into things the cheapest way or the easiest way. We have to think about the future.”

DRC views itself from the perspective of its history of support for landowners and farmers.

DRC was active in the Minot area in the 1990s when it helped residents organize to protect their interests after a Sawyer landfill opened to accept out-of-state waste. A major accomplishment was

‘That’s never going to happen. None of us are wanting it to go away. We just want them to do it better. That’s all most of these issues are is trying to make it better.

There’s better ways of doing things, not to just headlong rush into things the cheapest way or the easiest way. We have to think about the future.’

— Former DRC chairman Donny Nelson of Keene, on the perception that the organization wants to harm the oil industry. having General Motors’ waste removed when it was determined it was not an approved waste for the landfill, Trechock said.

Those area residents helped start a Souris Valley chapter of DRC, which later disbanded. Among the group’s activities had been urging local groceries to institute country-of-origin labeling on meats.

During the 1980s and early 1990s when the oil industry was in bust mode, DRC focused on agricultural issues, such as genetically modified wheat and Canadian wheat and cattle imports. Nelson recalled Gov. Jack Dalrymple, then chairman of Dakota Pasta Growers, standing at the Canadian border with DRC to protest wheat imports.

DRC led a border protest over wheat imports from Canada, which farmers considered to be market dump-

Grow Continued from Page 1

break down the waste, but even that has not been enough. Treated wastewater ends up being discharged earlier than the city would like as it strives to meet the discharge quality standard in its permit from the North Dakota Health Department.

“We are still meeting the limits of the permit, but barely,” Smith said.

Continuing to increase the size of the lagoon system is not practical, Smith said.

To be of adequate size, the massive lagoons would be unaffordable at land prices that have inflated enormously in recent years, he said.

So the next evolution for the system is mechanical treatment.

“The plant that we are constructing right now will only replace our existing treatment system. It doesn’t give us any additional capacity,” Smith said.

That is why as soon as the plant is built, the city will start a second phase to double the capacity. The first phase is designed to accommodate a population of 7,500 people, based on average use. Because Watford City has a significant amount of high-density housing, the average use per household likely is lower, which means the capacity of the system may stretch beyond 7,500 residents.

However, even with the second phase of construction to bring capacity up to 15,000 residents, the plant may not be big enough in the long run.

“There’s a whole another wave of potential development on the horizon that will blow this out of the water,” Smith said.

The latest population forecast for the city is 20,000 to 25,000 people.

A study is under way for another wastewater treatment facility at a different location.

City engineer Todd Kelley said the gravity flow within the city has been toward the lagoons, where the wastewater treatment plant is being built. But the city is growing to the south, which is at a similar elevation as the wastewater facilities. To avoid the expense of having to pump sewage from the south end of the community to the plant, the city wants to construct a separate plant in that area.

Another issue in the study is how much discharge Cherry Creek can handle from two plants, Kelley said.

“That’s going to determine the amount of treatment the effluent would need to go

ing, aimed at lowering commodity prices. Spring wheat farmers were successful in getting a settlement in an antidumping lawsuit through the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mark Trechock of Dickinson, DRC director from 1993 to 2012, said the biggest issue for DRC in the 1990s was genetically modified wheat. He recalled DRC fighting alongside other farm groups for three legislative sessions before Monsanto backed away from selling modified wheat seed.

Farmers opposed genetically modified wheat because of the potential devastation to foreign markets, which were refusing the wheat.

“Our job was to primarily organize the farmers, and we had farmers all over the state who were very concerned about the loss of income that would come about. I think that was the biggest victory

through,” he said.

Watford City set a precedent when it received a health department permit for its wastewater facility under construction.

Typically, mechanical wastewater facilities discharge into rivers that have flows capable of taking treated wastewater. Watford City is the first in the state to get a permit for an intermittent stream, Cherry Creek.

To meet the environmental standards and avoid degrading the water quality in Cherry Creek, Watford City added an additional process in its treatment to ensure adequate oxygen in the discharge stream so no harm occurs to aquatic life.

AE2S designed the city’s plant, and Rice Lake Construction Group began building last fall.

The plant will have a pre-treatment system that removes solids before the wastewater goes into a mixing tank for nitrogen removal. The wastewater then moves to an oxidation ditch, where it circulates and bacterial digestion occurs. From there, the wastewater flows into a clarifier, where solids sink and are removed for more processing. The existing aeration ponds will become sludge-holding ponds. The wastewater eventually is chlorinated and aerated before discharge.

Kelley said the plant’s design can easily be modified for any stricter discharge quality standards that might come into play in the future.

To staff the first phase of the new operation, the city expects to add an extra half position in its water and sewer department.

The department now has three full-time people, plus some part-time summer help.

Watford City obtained a $19 million loan from the State Revolving Loan Fund for the first phase of wastewater plant construction.

The city placed an assessment fee on new connections that raised $3 million for the construction in its first year in 2014, according to the city auditor’s office. The city also plans to use its oil and gas gross production tax to help pay off the loan.

Sewer rates for residents have increased slightly, largely to keep up with operational costs.

The city’s wastewater needs are just a portion of more than $140 million in infrastructure projects the city figures it needs to keep up with growth over the next five years.

“Anticipating the growth we are talking about, we tried to take a look at what facilities we are going to need to handle that growth,” Kelley said. “We are trying to get ahead of the curve as much as we can.”

we ever had was to keep GM wheat out because it was going to be a terrible fiscal tragedy for our wheat farmers,” Trechock said.

In 1996, DRC presented a petition to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to protest consolidation and price manipulation in the cattle slaughter industry. The attempt to exert a national influence wasn’t effective, but supply and demand has influenced some improvement over the years, Trechock said.

“We haven’t cured the problem yet, but at least we made it so we can make a living,” Nelson added.

DRC hasn’t resolved all the issues related to oil

impacts, either. Decades since first starting the conversation, DRC still is talking about property setbacks for wells and reclamation bonding. Those issues get overshadowed, though, by DRC’s efforts to restrict radioactive waste disposal and set rules to prevent exploding oil trains.

“There’s nothing really radical about any of that,” Nelson said. “None of that is really radical if you just sit with people and talk to them about it.”

Even so, spurring public involvement is an even bigger challenge for DRC than winning over policy makers.

Nelson said times have

changed since the days when people met together to address their concerns. These days, people are less likely to get involved and particularly aren’t inclined to attend meetings. DRC is learning to adjust its strategies and use new methods in modern culture to engage the younger generation.

Bird Bear said DRC recognizes that the building block for change in North Dakota remains the relationship between people. Although DRC has a few paid staff, the bulk of the work is done by through the grassroots relationships of volunteers.

“DRC is led by the people,” she said. “The members are the driving force in how DRC is going to focus its energy and its strength.”

Nelson added the value in people coming together hasn’t changed.

“You just get four or five committed people, and you can change the whole direction,” he said.

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Minot Daily News PROGRESS

O i l & G as I m p act Schools catching up

Saturday, April 11, 2015

While the Minot Public School District has been on the fringes of the Bakken oil development, it has still experienced the effects.

During the 2013-2014 school year there were 24 portable classrooms in use in the school district, with three at Bel Air Elementary, two at Perkett Elementary, two at Edison Elementary, one at McKinley Elementary, three at Sunnyside Elementary, nine at Washington Elementary and four at Jim Hill Middle School.

Voters were asked to approve a $125.5 million bond issue in December 2013, which failed to pass. Three months later, in April 2014, voters approved a scaled back $39.9 million bond issue, which will be used to fund construction of a new elementary school in southeast Minot and new additions at Edison and Perkett elementaries, as well as safety and security improvements at all of the schools.

The Edison classroom addition, pictured here, is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in time for the start of school this fall.

Work on the Perkett Elementary addition and on the new elementary school will begin this spring. Both projects are set to be completed in time for the start of the 2016-2017 school year.

The goal of the new school construction was to reduce the number of students attending classes in portable classrooms.

– Information and photos by Andrea Johnson

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