Food Shortage in Williston - County Commissioner -- The Heart of the Bakken

Update

January 29, 2012: the mayor sees things quite a bit differently -- "a growing Williston will be a better Williston."Great op-ed article. Good for him. And the editor of the Williston Herald supports him. Good for both of them.

Same day, later: I've seen this story before; it appears it is a "cut and paste" job from the Dickinson Press and picked up by Bloomberg. Back in 2008/2009 I received a comment from "anonymous" that predicted all of this. I did not post that comment, not wanting to be inflammatory, and wanting to give the state leaders and county commissioners the benefit of the doubt. If armchair amateurs could see it coming why couldn't others closer to the action see it coming? There was no strategic vision, no planning, and this is where it has gotten us. As noted below, for every story of whining I see, I would like to see five stories in which there is some strategic planning going on.

Same day, later: I'm sure if there was a food shortage in Williston, the Dickinson Press would have reported it. 

Same day, later: this is a current ad from Economart; prices are better than what I am paying here in Boston. I see there is plenty of fruit and vegetables: avocados, grapes, apples. Thank you to a reader for sending me the link (and, no, it was not from an employee of Economart, although  that would have been refreshing).

Original Post

I was in the Bakken most of August, all of September, October, and November, departing on December 1, 2011, so I don't know how things have changed between then and now, in less than two months.

I do not recall any problem with a grocery shortage in Williston. The Economart was well stocked; Wal-Mart was well stocked. I did not visit the huge Albertson's store. But I don't know. Maybe Williston is short of groceries now as the county commissioners say:

Williams County Commissioner Dan Kalil received applause from the audience after his testimony about the toll the boom has taken on Williston. The area is short on patience, jail space, groceries and fuel; and long on sewage, garbage, anger and frustration, he said. 

I do know that there is a problem with diesel fuel on a daily basis, but there should be a diesel refinery up and running in the heart of the Bakken in a short time if folks work together to expedite the process. The diesel refinery would have been up and running by now had there not been the usual bureaucratic delays. Thank goodness, we don't have the Minnesota bureaucracy where it takes five years for a permit vs one year here in North Dakota.

But as far as gasoline for automobiles, again, I did not see any shortage back in September, October, and November. In WWII, "they" laid a fuel pipeline from England to Germany as the war effort moved east; that was across a channel during the biggest war in recorded history. The late Virgil Syverson, a tank driver for General Patton and long-term Williston resident, could have probably told us about that.

[The pipeline: PLUTO -- pipeline under the ocean -- from England to France to Germany.]

There's a refinery in Bismarck; if folks were serious about solutions, they should be able to find them.  We can't put in a diesel pipeline from that refinery to the Bakken? Greed? Lack of strategic vision? Faux-environmentalists? The boom started back in 2007; this is 2012. The impact was being talked about back in 2008. They can't lay a diesel pipeline from Bismark to Williston in five years?

From what I see, it's two things: a) bureaucratic delays; b) lack of strategic vision; and, c) greed. Okay, three things.

The greed prevents a lot from getting done.

I do agree with this:

“This level of activity has only led to unwarranted greed and unbelievable pressure on everyone,” he said.

The oil companies tried to get the lowest lease rates possible, but local folks held for as much as they could get [and it's getting worse]. Well, duh. I suppose some would call that greed.

My first question: do the county commissioners  have any oil income? My hunch is that the folks who have their wells, say "slow down." The folks who don't have their oil wells yet, say "hurry up." (By the way, wells that used to be named with names of folks and families we used to know -- not happening so much any more. Folks are asking their family names not be tied to the wells. No comment.)

It was not the outsiders that raised the rates on rooms at motels and hotels. Local folks did that. It was not the outsiders that raised the rent; that was the local folks. It was not outsiders that (in)famously evicted seniors from their long-term residences to increase the rent in Williston; that was the local owner. It was not outsiders that evicted a dance studio operator; that was the daughter/son of a long-term Williston resident, if I remember correctly. It is not the outsiders that have raised prices; outsiders are doing what they can to keep prices down. It's the local folks that have raised prices.

Not enough money coming back to the community to deal with roads, buildings, etc? That's a local problem, as in "local" at the state level, Bismarck. The outsiders don't vote; they don't control where the tax dollars go.

Lack of affordable housing? It was not the outsiders that banned man-camps.

But as I've always said, now we know how the native Americans felt when the white man invaded, bringing with them unwarranted greed and unbelievable pressure on everyone -- forcing the native Americans to reservations on some of the worse land in the state.

I'm not saying there aren't problems, huge problems. But I have great faith in what men and women can do. Certainly our grandparents, and now, in some cases, our great-grandparents suffered much greater challenges -- Giants of the Earth comes to mind.

For every Dickinson Press story I see about how tough things are, I would like to see five stories of state and federal government "fast-tracking" applications for infrastructure projects. Is WAWS on track, or is it mired in court? Why is there such a problem with getting new roads in; maintaining current roads? "They" fast-tracked the highway widening project between Williston and Watford City; I think that was done in six months, from announcement to completion. Construction crews from outside the area came in and did a bang-up job.

The Keystone XL project was killed, by faux-environmentalists; that pipeline would have taken thousands of trucks off the road on a daily basis, and maybe even less railroad terminals needed.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I know for some the Bakken boom is not fun; it is highly challenging for all. But maybe I'm seeing it from the eyes of the soldiers who took on a mission in Iraq and got it done. By the way, the Williston Herald reported fewer traffic accidents in December, 2011. Things can't be all bad.

And by the way, if groceries are in short supply in Williston, we need to ask the new Bakken millionaires to start ordering their steak, potatoes, desserts, and side dishes from Omaha Steak, to take the pressure off the local grocery stores, for the rest of the poor folks. My daughter sends me a gift pack every Christmas; it lasts for weeks. Those, whose wells have not yet come in, can order their groceries from Amazon.com. The post office, as we all know, desperately needs the business. [Although the Williston post office does not.]

It appears the one thing the Bakken is not short on is alcohol. At least that wasn't mentioned in the article above. It's funny how some things always seem to get "there." Years ago, I was deployed to a Muslim country; we were told we could not bring alcohol into the country, and that it was against the law to sell or buy alcohol there. I was naive; I believed the senior leaders. I was one of the later ones to arrive. When I arrived, I learned that the NCOs had found the discotheques and bars in the nearby city within 24 hours of their earlier arrival. I, too, enjoyed the night life.

Oh, one last story. We were in that foreign Muslim country for a full month. We were operating out of a bare-base operation, training their fighter pilots. We had an outstanding mess facility -- I do believe it was an Air Force operation, but it was so good, it makes me think it was Army-run, but I could be wrong. Be that as it may. We had great meals throughout the mission. But just standard meat and potato fare.

In these bare-base missions, it takes several days to fly every one out when being re-deployed. The fighters go first;  and then there is a hierarchy of who goes next. The security forces (to protect assets) go last, and the medics, of which I was one, go second to last (to be there to aid the security forces to the end). The mess hall folks go near the end, also, until there are so few, that the last can do with meals-ready-to-eat (MRE's), the modern answer to C-rations.

The commander and the pilots were the first to leave. As soon as the fighter jets were past the halfway point between the bare base where we were and the home base to which they were returning, the dining hall chef announced over the PA system that dinner that night would be steak and lobster. I kid you not. We were in Africa. There is no lobster in Africa. But as soon as the commander and his pilots were too far to turn back, the chief cook cracked open the really good stuff.

Well, this turned into a rambling note that went nowhere.

Good luck to all.

And again, please, will all you Bakken millionaires start ordering your groceries on-line so that the food shortage in Williston can be ameliorated.