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by Sue Orsen Spending a week away from Victoria often provides me fuel and fodder for the front page. This time it means an update on life in the Oil Country of Tioga, North Dakota, home of our daughter Jenny and husband Christopher Norgaard since 2008. We often visit them in January because Addie Sue is our godchild as well as our grandchild and her birthday is January 21st. This year she turned 13. It’s hard to believe we have a grandchild who is a teenager! Wasn’t she just born? Wasn’t she just in my arms as we strolled the Mall of America? Wasn’t she just learning to read? Gunnar is 11 and he is also an amazing grandchild. His favorite pastime is crop farming, and I mean big time farming on complex video simulation applications. It’s a rather serious game to him -- earning a living, planting, cultivating, harvesting, selling, hiring helpers to work his land, and purchasing equipment that won’t bankrupt him but instead put money in the bank. It’s extremely true to life. But this Gazette story is about other things happening in the Oil Country. I often get questions from friends and family, like: “How’s it going in Tioga with the low oil prices? Is there still work? Did wages go down? How are your kids doing? Are there layoffs? Are they still drilling? What's happening in the Oil Country?" And I hardly have answers. Jenny and I talk often, but about basketball games and school and teachers, home projects and work, new recipes and the new car wash. Chris is just completing construction of a state-of-the-art premium car wash on a parcel of land he owns in Tioga and the whole town is excited about it. The facility is sorely needed. My response to the questions often goes this way: “It must be okay. They are working and happy. They love Tioga. They have good friends and a beautiful home in the country.” But I now had a chance to read the local papers, talk to the kids a bit in depth, and I also picked up local online news from my own tagalong laptop. Now I can answer the questions more accurately and add some details. I’ll write a brief recap for you of what I learned. After all, oil is a topic of conversation around the world, and not everyone has firsthand knowledge about the Oil Country and residents of Tioga, the Oil Capital of North Dakota. *** I learned that a wind farm was just approved in December 2015 for a $250 million project that will bring 75 wind turbines to 13,000 acres four miles north of Tioga. The Norgaards live on an acreage two miles south of Tioga and they’re all located in the Bakken Oil Basin. Chris and Jenny confirmed that a wind farm is coming to the Oil Country. Jenny has often spoken of the wind in North Dakota and I have felt it on our many visits. On a hot day, it’s appreciated. On a cold day, it’s brutal. On Lake Sakakawea, be careful. Proponents of the wind farm say the project will help meet the high demand for electricity, a demand driven by the oil and gas development. I asked Chris what he thought about it. “It will bring more business to town,” replied the Tioga business man. As president of the Tioga Area Economic Development Corporation and president of the Tioga Airport Authority, Chris promotes business. He has already been entrepreneurial in renovating the old downtown bank, land speculation, selling parcels to hotel developers, and improving the airport. In addition to the Tioga Car Wash, he also owns a water well in town and sells truckloads of water. Water is needed to operate the oil drilling rigs, and water is also needed in the fracking process. Construction of the wind farm is expected to begin this spring, with completion in December 2016. It is proposed to employ 500 to 600 workers who will need food, clothing, and shelter, which helps support local business. I read that not everyone is happy about the wind project. For one thing, it further disturbs the peace of the North Dakota countryside. Others call it an unreliable, expensive form of energy. Still others say it has a negative impact on wildlife, although it was demonstrated there are no bald eagle nests within the project boundaries.
Finish the Oil Country story in the paper edition of the Gazette. |
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February 2016 |
