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“We are where the ‘sweet spot’ of
the Bakken is located. And we
are the ones who are getting all
of the activity—the trucks, the
traffic and the influx of people
. . . Here is where all of the
industrial work comes into play.
the Bakken and are considered to be the
four main oil producing counties in the
state. As such, they have experienced more
than their fair share of the negative factors
associated with the region’s heavy oil and
gas production, including excessive volumes
of traffic.
“We are where the ‘sweet spot’ of the
Bakken is located,” says Dollinger. “And
we are the ones who are getting all of the
activity—the trucks, the traffic and the influx
of people. The surrounding counties
also get it to some degree but, really, that’s
just where the oilfield goes to sleep. Here
is where all of the industrial work comes
into play.”
Wreaking havoc on
roadways
All of this industrial activity is wreaking
havoc on the roadways of McKenzie
County, which was once used to seeing up
to 20 trucks per day passing by. Since the
oil pads were first laid, the county has seen
an amazing escalation of heavy traffic—up
to 1,400 percent more.
“We went from having roads that
would have maybe 20 trucks per day to
having up to 300 trucks per day,” says
Dollinger. “These trucks are each loaded
just as heavy as they can possibly be and
are driving along our dirt roads. These
trucks are grinding our gravel into dust
and throwing it off the road. The roads
are not designed to take this kind of wear
and are degrading down, getting wider and
getting broken up. It’s a losing battle and
we’re going backwards.”
Coupled with the increase to traffic
volume, McKenzie County has been facing
an increasing challenge in retaining
staff as employees, who tend to be drawn
to the oilfields and the high wages paid
out by contractors working in the Bakken.
Last year, the road department lost
nine employees out of a crew of 23, in
spite of already paying higher wages than
could be found in other counties. This has
changed the way that McKenzie County
has approached new hires within the road
department.
“We had to give up on training and
hiring younger people,” says Dollinger.
“What we found was happening was
that they were just using us as a training
ground, and as soon as they felt comfortable
on our equipment, they jumped ship
to go to the oilfield. Because of this, we
started looking for specific types of employees.”
McKenzie County is counting on the
already trained and more experienced
workers returning the oil patch, who
have perhaps been disenfranchised by the
promises made that brought them into the
Bakken in the first place. Each season, one
or two of these workers gets picked up by
the department and, more importantly,
stays with the county road crews.
“We’re looking for those who are sick
and tired of working six days straight at one
hundred hours per week out in the oilfield,”
says Dollinger. “These workers want job
security, benefits, insurance, paid holidays
and the family life back, instead of a big
cash payment at the end of the week.”
Getting the greenbacks
Ultimately, the solution to the issues
facing the counties in the Bakken will
come down to one thing.
“We need obscene piles of money to
fix our problems,” says Dollinger. “Don’t
get me wrong; our revenues are increasing,
and as things go, the county is getting
richer. But right now, the percentage that
we are getting back from the government
is not keeping pace with the activity or the
money that’s going out of our county. Not
even close.”
The deteriorating condition of the
roads and highways throughout North Dakota
is something that the state’s legislators
are not blind to and they are well-aware
of the challenges facing local road departments
such as those in McKenzie County.
“I would say that funding in road infrastructure
is insufficient to handle the
growth, considering that we are still growing,”
says Congressman Kevin Cramer of
North Dakota. “However, I am of the belief
that a place like North Dakota—specifically
the Bakken—is contributing so
much to gas tax dollars to the federal government
and highway use funds that they
ought to get a bigger return.”
In response to the infrastructure crisis
in the Bakken, federal and state governments
have been increasingly funding new
highway construction projects, subsequent
maintenance and working out formulas to
get more state money back into the counties
and municipalities through various
mechanisms and triggers.
“Federal and state governments are using
excess funds to not only build up the
state and federal highway system, but to
also to get money out to local governments
for their priorities,” says Cramer. “Some
would argue that it’s not enough—and it
may not b—but at least there has been
some progress in that regard.”
Highway of choice
To more efficiently move goods and
services through the Bakken, the state and
federal government is looking to work
with local jurisdictions to develop the
trade corridor known as the Ports to Plains
Alliance, with a priority of four-laning
Highway 85—the most relevant point for
the Bakken and those living throughout
North Dakota. Law-makers see the widening
of Highway 85 as a way to help relieve
traffic congestion on the county roads and
as a way to bill Highway 85 as a “highway
of choice” for shippers and travelers.
“North Dakota now is the fastest growing
state in the country, and with that
96 The Official Publication of the North Dakota Association of Oil & Gas Producing Counties