magazine

claimed that it was buried six feet when it was
only buried at three feet. Then we can better
identify the problem. It’s not really limiting the
industry; it just requires companies to be more
accountable for what they are doing.”
Reducing concerns
Moving forward, there is hope that this rule
for gathering pipelines will better open up communication
between landowners and the industry,
easing some of the understandable concerns
that property owners may have toward pipelines
being placed on their land.
“For them to have the sense of knowledge
that there are some guidelines, procedures and
rules that were followed in the construction
and the maintenance of these gathering pipelines,
it will provide some peace of mind,”
says Ness. “Obtaining and establishing easements
have always been a challenge for the
industry and we are hopeful that rules such
as this will help encourage those landowners
to allow for more pipeline easements across
their properties.”
Ultimately, however, this new rules affecting
gathering pipelines aims to benefit all North
Dakotans, whether they are actively involved in
the oil and gas industry or not.
“These rules will benefit the entire state because
companies will now be certifying what
exactly they are putting in the ground so as to
avoid some kind of future environmental incident,”
says Ritter. “This is something to help
secure the future, and I believe that everybody
will win with a rule like this.”
Get to Know Our
Experts
Alison
Ritter
Alison Ritter
joined the North
Dakota Department
of Mineral
Resources in 2011
as the public information
specialist
after five years of work at KFYR-TV
in Bismarck, ND. While at KFYR, she
was a two-time winner of the Northwest
Broadcast News Association’s Eric Sevareid
award. Alison is a 2006 graduate of
South Dakota State University, where she
majored in Communications.
When she is not busy trying to keep up
with the ever-changing oil and gas industry,
she is busy trying to keep up with her
husband, Bryce and their two sons, Boedy
and Benson.
“I love the additional perspective I can
provide to our decision makers and I enjoy
the different challenges my job presents every
single day. I literally leave work every
day thinking, ‘Wow, that was tough, but
it was fun!’”
Ron Ness
Ron Ness is
president of the
North Dakota
Petroleum Council,
serving as the
industry spokesperson
and managing
the association. Ness was previously
the president of the North Dakota Retail
and Petroleum Marketers Association. Prior
to that, he spent 10 years with the state of
North Dakota, most of which were spent as
the deputy commissioner of labor.
Ness is a Tolna, ND native and a graduate
of North Dakota State University in
business and economics. He received his
masters in management from the University
of Mary in North Dakota. He and his
wife Becky have three children and are avid
outdoorsmen who enjoy golfing and
hunting.
100 The Official Publication of the North Dakota Association of Oil & Gas Producing Counties