Planning to beat the oil boom
By Michael Johnson, Editor
Western North Dakota is on the fast lane headed into new territory. Those that want to make sure that the future growth from oil development is a smooth ride have been gathering to plan and prepare themselves for the ups and downs along the way. Representatives from counties in and around the Bakken Oil Formation have joined the group Vision West as a way to discuss and share info on how the oil development is shaping their communities. Last Wednesday, the group met in Washburn to go over what has been happening so far. Vision West is funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the North Dakota Energy Infrastructure and Impact Grant Office. Part of what the group has been doing includes working with AE2S in performing infrastructure reports in small towns being impacted by oil development. They are targeting 20 of these communities to get a plan on paper of what it would take to make sure they can handle large developments like man camps. Adding water, sewer and other utilities in those areas is a major cost that they cannot handle on their own.
