In the thick of the Bakken oil boom, Williams County finds some profiteers not paying their bills. Companies operating temporary housing—the infamous man camps—around Williston owe Williams County over three million dollars in fees related to their conditional use permits. One delinquent company, Target Logistics, owes the county over one million dollars, including hundreds of thousands owed for last year. (Target Logistics did have $55,000 last year to donate to Williams County to buy car cameras for the Sheriff's Department, a donation which set off one commissioner's quid pro quo alarm.)
In response, Williams County Commissioners this week rejected two conditional use permit extensions from man camp operators, including one from an operator who has failed to build a road promised as part of his original CUP deal and who established a commercial building in an agricultural zone that commissioners had explicitly rejected. The message to Big Oil from Williams County: you can make your money here, but you've got to follow our rules and pay the bills for all the services you demand.
South Dakota should keep an eye on these developments if the Keystone XL pipeline receives approval. TransCanada plans to house its transient pipeline builders in three man camps in South Dakota, in Harding, Meade, and Tripp counties. According to an eager reader, Target Logistics will build the Harding County camp. Commissioners in Harding County and on down the line will do well to make sure Target Logistics and TransCanada's other contractors follow the rules and pay the bills better than North Dakota's Bakken oil exploiters.
And in a final Keystone XL bit of trivia, the 80-acre man camp in Meade County will have 600 beds and 250 RV spaces. The fenced compound will have its own company grocery store, cafeteria, and clinic. The Meade man camp will be located near Howes, on land owned by Representative Dean Wink (R-29/Howes).
Cory;
Who owns the man camps big oil others?
And in a final Keystone XL bit of trivia, the 80-acre man camp in Meade County will have 600 beds and 250 RV spaces. The fenced compound will have its own company grocery store, cafeteria, and clinic. The Meade man camp will be located near Howes, on land owned by Representative Dean Wink (R-29/Howes)
So I guess Tennessee Williams was right when he sang "I owe my soul to the company store."
This all reminds me a bit of Grapes of Wrath.
How much is Rep. Wink getting paid for the use of 80 acres of his land? Even if everything is on the up and up this smells so rotten I'm surprised he would put himself in the position where his integrity, and fidelity to his oath of office, could be questioned.
I just last week sat thru a presentation by TransCanada and Target Logistics extolling the wondrous benefits of having a mancamp in Harding County. Would have loved to have known this bit of info. And by the way they are now calling them " work force centers " due to the negative stigma attached to the word mancamp....
Mr. Nemec,why should Mr.Wink be different than about 99% of the other politicions from washington on down to the local politicions???
I spent some time recently talking with relatives who live in Dickinson, North Dakota. One works for a trucking company with contracts in the oil field. The consensus is that North Dakota is repeating some of the basic mistakes from the first boom/boomlet in the 1980s. South Dakota would do well do avoid similar mistakes, but I suspect the desire for a quick buck will take precedence over prudent planning.
A couple of quick things because I'm getting ready for school to start, so I’m practicing being picky. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang “Sixteen Ton” with the line about the owing the soul to the company store. Tennessee Williams might be able to contribute to the discussion with his plays “On The Waterfront” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Also “man camps” doesn’t sound any worse than “work force centers,” a term that combines the worst parts of “work camp,” “forced labor,” and “correction center.”
It would suck to live in, but making 6 figures and living in a man camp wouldn't be that bad. I have buddies taking home plenty of money as long as they stay away from the bar. People are changing their lifestyles so the implication that these are anyway related to forced labor camps or correction centers is ridiculous. I'll show you a 28 yr old I grew up with that started by buying two semis and now is making millions a year. That's a rags to riches story and they are happening all over. If I were there, I'd rather have all my supplies at the camp then having to wait in line for hours at the store. It's not like they are being extorted for it. It may cost a little more, but saving time means something as well.
DB, money, money, money so why isn't Target Logistics paying their fees?
I don't know, ask them. I am addressing the idea that these are slave camps or somehow related to forced labor.
I never said that the job was were forced labor. I said that the term "work force camps" had connotations that didn't make it a better descriptor than "man camps."
People working in the oil patch can be the success story that DB describes. They can also work hard, live hard and have nothing left.
Understood. Most of the residents are good hard working people, but there always will be a few bad apples. If they can have a store with essential grocery items and fuel, they are going to save 1-2 hrs each time they fill up their truck with gas, and another couple hours being able to stay away from the grocery store. You wait and wait and wait some more to live there. They need to be holding up their end of the bargain though, but this is just another issue of the many they are dealing with. Fraud and con men are everywhere and they are committing crimes that the state is telling people it's a civil matter and not worth their time. Be careful is all I can say. The gov't isn't there to help, unless they have an ulterior motive to be there......to collect money.
A couple of quick things because I'm getting ready for school to start, so I’m practicing being picky. Tennessee Ernie Ford sang “Sixteen Ton” with the line about the owing the soul to the company store. Tennessee Williams might be able to contribute to the discussion with his plays “On The Waterfront” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
My bad. I too am getting ready for school to start (open house tonight). That means I am looking forward to being corrected by my students all the time ;-)
Hundreds of females of all ages are serving as prostitutes in the ND mancamps. Some are not there willingly, but were coerced and/or kidnapped. Many are from MN, hence stories in local news here.
I don't imagine anyone is surprised by this news. Lots of money has always been very closely followed by lots of corruption, scammers, violent crime, etc. Any state is very wise to keep this at the forefront of planning.
"Work force center" carries the usual wimpiness of euphemism and corporate-speak. "Man camp" at least captures a bit of the machismo that may reinforce an attitude of hard work.
Alas, that machismo also contributes to the crime of which Deb warns us.
Whatever the name, social problems, or practical benefits of the man camps, the point is that Bret and his neighbors face the problem of a bad neighbor who likes dodging taxes, even though it has plenty of oil money to fulfill its obligations to the community. That's just one more reason to either stop Keystone XL or, if it's inevitable, regulate the heck out of it to make sure South Dakotans aren't left holding the externalities bag.
Oldguy, I'm not sure how the actual ownership works. I'd assume that since the caps serve no purpose for TransCanada after pipeline construction, it's just a lease deal. Rep. Wink, is that how it works?