Oil and the quality of life!!!!!!!!
Case Study- by anonymous
I have a friend who lives very close to the oil field in western North Dakota. There are
man-camps (places where the people who work in the oil field live) close to the town she lives in
and the surrounding larger cities where she goes to shop and to hang out with friends. She used
to be able to go to these larger cities by herself, but with all the oil workers around, her parents
no longer allow her to do so, because of the increased risk that is involved now that there are
thousands of people living near her. The worst place she says is Walmart, because there are a lot
of oil workers who are living in the parking lot and using the bathroom in Walmart to get ready
for the day. She says that it is quite scary going there and that she would never think of going
there by herself even though years ago she was able to.
The appeal of small town life in western North Dakota is being lost very fast. There once
was a time when she would go into town and would know all if not most of the people, now she
may know a few at most. Not only are there man-camps but there are also a number of men
who live in town, that is the ones who were lucky enough to get a house before the housing
crisis. Children can no longer walk the streets alone, especially after dark, and women have
obscene things yelled at them from the oil workers. My friend knows a lot of people who are
taking concealed weapon courses just in case something was to happen, they want to be
prepared. People who live in small towns are generally people who like to be secluded, with
there not being a neighbor for miles away. But the oil has changed this too. Her family has
contemplated many times moving somewhere to eastern North Dakota where the oil hasn’t
reached yet, but they fear that they may run into the same problems years down the line, and they
are holding on to what their small town used to be and hoping that one day it will return.
It angers her and her family that the major news stations such as NBC broadcasts views
that if you come to North Dakota there will be a job for you and you will make good money no
matter what job you get. This winter didn’t help much either because my friend’s family was
hoping that it would be abnormally bad so that people would leave because of the snow and the
cold temperatures, but with the mild winter it didn’t help their cause, and more and more people
are filtering into North Dakota each and every day. The oil has helped North Dakota in many
ways, by getting us through a time that was hard financially for other states, but it has also made
many people uncomfortable and unable to go anywhere by themselves. Another thing that I have
heard her complain about is the amount of semi-truck traffic in and around her house. She often
goes home and she said that it is scary driving with that many trucks on the road and that
comparatively a lot more fatal accidents are happening than before, because some of the men
have worked a lot of hours consecutively without sleep. Not only that the roads are taking a
beating and are becoming worse and worse to drive on, you have to watch very carefully for pot
holes and things of that nature. She says that the extra money in North Dakota is nice but that it
shouldn’t come by compromising our small towns in western North Dakota, especially when
North Dakota is known for its small town life.
1. Questions
1. Do you think that North Dakota should sacrifice small towns and the people who live
within those towns to make money through the oil field?
2. Do you think that North Dakota should allow these man-camps to take over small towns
and to drive out the people who have lived there for years?
3. How do you think North Dakota should solve these problems so that people don’t have to
worry about going to common places such as Walmart?
2. Additional Material
With the influx of people coming into North Dakota to work, it also increases our crime
rates. It is true that with an increase of population it is common that the crime rates would go up
as well, but violent crimes such as aggravated assault are also going up. I recently watched my
local news station and saw that some of our politicians are worried that gangs may move in and
cause problems within our cities, and with the shortage of police officers in those highly
populated areas of the oil field, it is unclear how North Dakota would respond. But with the oil
field we also get increased jobs in other professions not associated with the oil field. But with a
shortage of living arrangements it is unclear how or where these people would live, and most
would have to commute. I know some people who commute hours to get to their job in the oil
field each morning, and even if you do get somewhere to live by the oil field, your rent would be
very expensive. The oil field also provides us with a healthy economy, and without worry that
our state will go into debt like other states. It may also provide us the means to get rid of our
property taxes on the June ballot. So with the negative effects of the oil field it also provides us
with a lot of positives and with a healthy state economy.
3. Additional Questions
1. Are the negative tradeoffs worth the positive things that come out of the oil field?
2. Do you think that the state should conduct background checks to keep gang members and
serious criminals out of our cities and towns or do you think that it would not be cost
effective?
4. Closing Notes
From my case study people should have learned that the discussions around the oil field are
very complicated, and the positives of a wealthy state seem to help us more than the crime hurts
us, but people in small towns tend to disagree and wish that it was happening somewhere else.
People in eastern North Dakota seem to agree more with the oil field because they don’t have to
live with it every day, but I think they would disagree more if it was right in their back yards and
they couldn’t allow their children to go out by themselves, or any member of their family to go
into town by themselves to buy the products they need.