User:Hungrywolvesgrind/North Dakota oil boom

Complete edits as are published

Social and infrastructure effects[edit]

The industrialization and population boom put a strain on roads, water supplies, sewage systems, and government services Bakken Formation and Williston Basin area. For context, this area covers over half of the state. Some counties increased in population by almost double from 20,000 to 40,000. The population increased in men and decreased in women, as the physically laborious jobs attracted some, while crime drove out others. Long term viability of a boom area generally will not last, as the services do not expand at the same rapid pace of population growth. Examples of services that were not maintained in North Dakota include school consolidations and size accommodations, lack of goods on demand, poor health care availability, loss of human capitol, inadequate elderly care, and road development.

Bakken oil fields in work.

Sociologist John S. Gilmore presents the idea of a boom town 'problem triangle'. The notion is as follows: Local services do not keep up with population growth, degrading the quality of life in the community. Lower quality of life creates more difficult in attracting additional population needed to support growth of services. Private investors also are often hesitant to invest in services, as chaos/ crime is often perpetuated in these areas. The oil industry relies on employees, but these employees in turn rely on other employees (dining, retail, etc.) and services (law enforcement, school systems, health care, etc.). When additional population for other businesses and services are not present, the oil employees cannot live healthy, secure lives.

Example of makeshift housing in man camps due to lack of real housing to match booming populations.

The boom also brought with it increases in crime and social problems. The addition of thousands of oil workers led to a housing shortage, requiring the construction of man camps for housing them. These poorly made, portable housing units were popularized due to North Dakota proliferating usage specifically . Law enforcement agencies reported sharp increases in offenses, particularly violent crime, drug trafficking, gun crimes, and prostitution in these areas. While crime did not increase as dramatically as it is typically perceived to have been, there was certainly an increase in population and a decrease of police ratio. The created a cautious environment for many, as safety was less ensured by state/ national institutions. However, despite inflammatory perceptions of crime rates, there was a concrete increase of crime. Violent crime, such as rape and aggravated assault, increased 30% in the Bakken region compared to pre-man camp times. The majority of victims of ongoing sexual violence are Indigenous women, targeted due to their minority identity, twofold with intersectionality.

Native American women were particularly targeted in violent crime, which was a factor in the rise of MMIW.

There is a prevalent notion among oilfield workers in the Bakken that there will be no consequences for assaults against Indigenous women. This exacerbates the ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis. Native American women experienced 2.5 times higher victimization of crime than other races- and women experienced 54% increase in unlawful sexual contact, most often statutory rape.

An oil pipeline running through lands precious to Tribal Nations including tribes such as the Standing Rock Sioux.

Crime affected the relationship between boom newcomers and longtime residents. Residents saw newcomers as threats to their access to resources and services. However, the longest residing people, such as the Standing Rock Sioux and Lakota tribes, were completely disregarded in decision making in land usage and development for oil fields. One instance particularly caught the eye of the public, when the Dakota Access Pipeline risked the people's access to land, water, and sacred sites. The issue made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but was ultimately the land and people did not get justice. The pipeline disrupts water flow from the Mississippi to the tribal land in order to deliver oil from the Bakken to Illinois. The pipeline also directly violates the Fort Laramie Treaty (Article II), which guarantees the 'undisturbed use and occupation of the sovereign nation's reservation lands.