North Dakota, the soon to be toxic wasteland with poisoned agriculture thanks to big oil, fracking, and stripped EPA control because of Darth Cheney and his bitch George Bush.

no offense, but northwestern ND has been producing oil for many years, with none of the side-effects you're predicting.

They weren't fracking either, do a little research on the damage and pollution caused by fracking that is completely unregulated, and all the chemicals they are using are being kept secret(proprietary) thanks to Bitch and Darth.

i have read up on that ---- the fracking is done at a totally different depth than the water-table.

I've researched the fracking technique and as ronpal says, it is not the boogie man you say it is antistupidity. It helps to know what you are talking about rather than repeat what you are told to say!

Congratulations North Dakota for working and making a better life for your community and your state. Wish the rest of the country would develope some of the same work ethics.

millerz

Nobody told me to say anything I did my own research and found many disturbing things, perhaps you should be the one doing more research.

sounds like we have a difference in opinion ---- what makes you think your research in any better than ours ???

Perhaps it is where and what you read, as well as reading between the lines, like the earth tremors in Texas and I think it was New Jersey where the tremors magically stopped when a judge ordered the oil companies to stop fracking. News agencies which are owned by corporations that are owned by another corporation that is owned by another corporation that when you follow the whole chain turn out to be linked indirectly to the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch, don't want that information out because in the end it is detrimental to themselves to report it.

The EPA's found that compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals had been detected in the groundwater beneath Pavillion, a small community in central Wyoming where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals. Health officials last year advised them not to drink their water after the EPA found low levels hydrocarbons in their wells.

More than 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater was produced by Pennsylvania wells over the past three years, far more than has been previously disclosed. Most of this water — enough to cover Manhattan in three inches — was sent to treatment plants not equipped to remove many of the toxic materials in drilling waste.

At least 12 sewage treatment plants in three states accepted gas industry wastewater and discharged waste that was only partly treated into rivers, lakes and streams.

Of more than 179 wells producing wastewater with high levels of radiation, at least 116 reported levels of radium or other radioactive materials 100 times as high as the levels set by federal drinking-water standards. At least 15 wells produced wastewater carrying more than 1,000 times the amount of radioactive elements considered acceptable.

begs the question then , doesn't it ??? ---- if all that is true, how did the EPA ever ok the permits for the ND oil deal ??? ----- and don't try to tell me the EPA was bought off by big oil, because that would be the same as saying obama was bought off by big oil.

@KarlRover

Thanks for posting it, I had read this but never bookmarked it and wasn't about to go looking for it so other people didn't have to do their own research.

here's another question...... why isn't canada complaining about the ND oil project ??? ---- the water table ( river ) that flows thru northwestern ND starts and ends in canada.

ronpal

begs the question then , doesn't it ??? ---- if all that is true, how did the EPA ever ok the permits for the ND oil deal ??? ----- and don't try to tell me the EPA was bought off by big oil.

The EPA couldn't do anything because as I posted earlier Bush and Cheney exempted the oil companies from declaring what they were using for chemicals and techniques as proprietary. This was done by executive order when they left office, it's not like they had any personal interest in these exemptions since they are both oil men.

so...... you're telling me the EPA, now under control of obama, is totally impotent in this case ??? ----- that's gotta be one bad pill to swallow. ----- however, in 18.1 you will note i had speculated that the deal might have been consummated before obama was in charge.

ronpal

here's another question...... why isn't canada complaining about the ND oil project ??? ---- the water table ( river ) that flows thru northwestern ND starts and ends in canada.

The Keystone pipeline if built will carry Canada's fracked(shale) oil to refineries in Texas for them to sell on the international market, none will be marketed in the US, so we take the environmental risks with the pipeline and really see no real long term benefit other than jobs for a few years and leasing rights for the land the pipeline is on that has been essentially confiscated(imminent domain) for the gain of the oil companies, Bush and Cheney's rear their ugly heads again, imagine that. What happens when there is a pipeline break or spill on the agricultural land the pipeline flows through and pollutes and poisons the crops and land. Who pays for that, the farmer who's land has been seized and us through higher prices at the market.

i thought obama tabled keystone for the time being ....despite the fact the first portion of that pipeline has already been completed. ------- the fracking in ND is not part of keystone. -------- but i'll ask my question again....... why isn't canada complaining ??? ----- the water-table in northwestern ND feeds back into canada.

ronpal

so...... you're telling me the EPA, now under control of obama, is totally impotent in this case ??? ----- that's gotta be one bad pill to swallow. ----- however, in 18.1 you will note i had speculated that the deal might have been consummated before obama was in charge.

Their funding was stripped by Bush and Cheney and the Republicans, who are trying to defund them even more, how can the funds be restored when the Republicans are trying to defund them with the fiscal cliff dance and calling for the end of the EPA, Board of Education, FDA and many other regulatory agencies.

i still find it a bit difficult to accept that canada would accept the possibility of contaminating their own water source. ----- after all, they have a lot of farmers and people in small towns who also rely on that water.

i thought obama tabled keystone for the time being

For the time being he has stopped it, but there are major efforts by big oil and the Republicans to get it going again, with little to no regulation. Obama is looking out for America not big oil and has a hell of a battle on his hands with this because of big oils money and their bought and paid for politicians. Don't you see the commercials on tv for natural gas and "clean coal" and the new ocean drilling techniques, what do you think that is all about, why are they trying to convince us that it is safe, if it really was they wouldn't be spending millions on advertising trying to convince the public. BP wouldn't even foot the bill to put on redundant blow out protectors, only a couple of million but will spend millions upon millions to tell us how well they have cleaned up their mess while using a banned oil dispersant. I keep salt water reef tanks and know what a healthy sand bed looks like, when I see the video of the floor of the gulf it is DEAD.

sorry, don't watch commercial television. ----- as it is , the only time i have to be on the internet is when i'm at work, and that's inbetween customers.

ronpal

i still find it a bit difficult to accept that canada would accept the possibility of contaminating their own water source.

Yet we allow our water sources to be contaminated, do you really think the behemoth companies and the bought politicians give a rats ass about anything but their own bank accounts.

ronpal sorry, don't watch commercial television.

Try it, if you watch it critically, don't take everything at face value and question why they are giving you a certain message, along with some of your own research and read between the lines it can be very revealing.

i don't think i explained myself very well....... the water that flows thru the fracking area in ND, comes from canada, and ends up back in canada. ------------------------------------- as for watching television, i am not hooked up to catch normal channels ---- all i get is netflix. ------ i get all my news from msnbc.

Really need to read more than just msnbc, if you have a digital receiver or converter box and some rabbit ears you can get broadcast and see some of the misleading advertising, I see you mentioned that the fracking is at a different depth than the water table, they pass through the water table to get to the fracking depths, and nobody is regulating that their wells are sound and not leaking into the water table.

the water that flows thru the fracking area in ND, comes from canada, and ends up back in canada.

You think the Canadian politicians don't take kick backs. I must be pissing some one off, my connection on this thread keeps getting reset.

not in this small town ----- and i travel too much to spring for a cable tv contract. -------------------- i don't pretend to know anything about canadian politicians --- i have enough on my plate trying to understand our politicians.

Watch in the hotel rooms at night, or in your cab if you are a long haul trucker.

used to stay in motels ---- i'm doing the rv thing now when i travel. ---- and travel is both business and pleasure, but i'm working from 7am until 11pm. ------ sometimes, i don't see regular tv programming for months, and that's when i'm visiting a friend or relative. ------ that's why i have netflix, anyway.... i hate commercial television programming. --- it's inefficient.

Well then, you will just have to take my word that this "advertising" more like brainwashing is going on, I am sure many other people can verify it, I watch limited TV, no cable but I do notice the manipulative advertising, I have always questioned what I am told and never take stuff at face value, marketers mastered manipulative advertising long ago, they even used subliminal advertising until it was banned. Last week a new law went into effect that advertising could not be more than 2 db louder than the programming, another manipulative trick they used to make the advertising stick out in your mind.

yeah ---- a friend was telling me about that ---- should make viewing more pleasant for those people who do watch commercial television. ------ of course, with tivo, you can skip commercials if you want to.

Anti-Stupidity

Petroleum is used in many fertilzers to increase the Nitrogen content. Not only that, but Petroleum can be the sole source to make fertilzer.

I'm also certain you have never been near an oil well. I have. Except where rod wax gets trampled into the earth the grass and weeds grow very fast.

Yes, a spill can be a problem, but those are few and far between because in most places Brine is not poored into pools to evaporate, it is shipped to other wells to be put back in the earth far below any water table.

DB To my knowledge fertilizers are primarily nitrates(organic) and phosphates(organic and inorganic), please enlighten me, what fertilizers are made from petroleum.

fertilizers containing nitrogen.

Everyone can safely ignore anti, he's just repeating what he read on a liberal site somewhere.

He's likely associated with several terrorist organizations and possibly kills kittens at night.

Be extremely careful of anything that ever uses words like "possibly, likely, potentially", its almost certainly propaganda. Those words don't have any meaning and are impossible to validate, you can say anything with them and be correct in saying it.

Hydrolic Fracturing for oil is safe when done appropriately, it's doesn't result in any pollution and if anything there is less as most material is kept underground in the borehole. For natural gas it's a little trickier as methane is released and that will find it's way to the surface through natural permeation in the ground. If there is any water stored above the borehole then the methane will get into it, and eventually it'll permeate through the water on it's way to the surface. So even when gas fracking does pollute underground lakes it's not permanent and will eventually return to normal.

The real reason the environmental terrorists are against this is that it removes the "foreign oil dependence" as one of their excuse's to get away from using oil / gas. If we're manufacturing the stuff locally then the price of Oil may go down and they don't want that. To that effect that group will say and do anything. The drilling companies should ensure they have armed guards around their facilities constantly, I wouldn't put it past a bunch of environmental terrorists to go out and try to damage / sabotage.

theotherguy1234

You are a terrorist you likely work for the Koch brothers and dont like when anyone tells the truth. The truth makes you scared so you hide your head in the sand, you are afraid of the truth getting out, you are likely heavily invested in this travesty. you may now return to the hole from which you came.

Anti-Stupidity

https://www.nyu.edu/sustainability/pdf/Fossil%20Fuel%20and%20Energy%20Use%202%20FCSummit-HO-20091207.pdf

http://coffeyvillegroup.com/NitrogenFertilizerOperations/index.html

Just about anything not labeled "organic" in fertilizer may be in part derived from petroleum based products. In the ingredients you won't see "petroleum", but you may see a product made from petroleum. "Chemical" Fertilzer usually involves using a derivative of petroleum for some aspect.

ronpal

fertilizers containing nitrogen.

Without parroting DB nitrogen and nitrates are different, nitrate, starts as ammonia(poison), naturally breaks down to nitrites(less poisonous) and then nitrate(now a fertilizer), again how is petroleum used to increase the nitrogen or to make a fertilizer? How is petroleum used to make nitrogen, an elemental gas under normal atmospheric conditions? Nitrogen is not a compound it is an element.

when a nitrogen-based fertilizer is made using petroleum, it helps the nitrogen release more efficiently. ----- i worked part-time at a golf course last summer, and some of the fertilizer we used was of that type. ------ i am not a chemist, so don't know how to explain exactly how it works, but it is an easy thing to google.

OK DB from what I read a nitrogen based fertilizer does use petroleum but is highly inefficient

The biggest culprit of fossil fuel usage in industrial farming is not
transporting food or fueling machinery; it’s chemicals. As much as
forty percent of energy used in the food system goes towards the
production of artificial fertilizers and pesticides.11 Fertilizers are synthesized
from atmospheric nitrogen and natural gas, a process that
takes a significant amount of energy. Producing and distributing
them requires an average of 5.5 gallons of fossil fuels per acre.

• Nitrogen-based fertilizers contribute directly to global warming:
Making and transporting one kilogram of nitrogen in a fertilizer releases
3.7 kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Doesn't sound like the greatest idea to me, I would like to know a lot more about the process, byproducts etc. before I could make an informed decision that this is better, safer or less toxic than natural fertilizers, nitrates and phosphates,. Thank you for the links and info, I will have to do more research on this. I would like to know how this is done and works in far more detail.

if it wasn't cost-effective, and didn't really help the nitrogen release more efficiently, why would farmers and golf courses use a petroleum-based fertilizer ??? ---- my friend who owns the golf course is a tightwad ---- he's not the kind of person who uses a product if it doesn't work better than the alternatives. ----- that being said, because he is sensitive to how the golf course looks, the product also has to do the job it's intended for, which in this case, is to make the grass look its very best.

theotherguy1234

I am neither a liberal or a conservative I am an independent centrist and think for myself and research for myself, if you cant act in a civil manner please refrain from posting to me or about me. You know nothing about who I am nor do you know my intelligence level, yet you make yours quite apparent with name calling and blatant uninformed lies. One has to question your intent and emotional stability. Calling me a terrorist is indeed a deflection of your own inadequacies.

Try looking up the definition of a liberal, it would be a progressive, which would indicate progress, a movement toward improvement, while I know that is not how you meant it. Improvement would be a good thing but you try to paint it as a negative in a slanderous manner as the word has been politically manipulated to be perceived as detrimental by the right wing.

ronpal

Like I said I would like to do more research on it, it may be more cost effective financially, but I would like to look at other aspects of it, environmentally. long term effects, what it may leach into the ground, what the byproducts of manufacture are. According to the article DB posted it is a contributor to green house gasses, how much so, after all, we have to live in this environment, is saving $500 worth poisoning your air supply, or damage may be caused by possible leaching of chemicals into the vegetables we are eating etc.

I don't base the value of a product solely on money, or immediate money, I don't believe in being penny wise and pound foolish.

i also am an independent, or actually, i prefer to call myself unaffiliated. ------ your definition is basically correct, but who gets to decide what type of improvement is best ??? ------ two people could both be trying to improve a situation, but could have totally different ideas on how to achieve that improvement. ------------------------------------- as my golf course friend would say, it doesn't matter how expensive the product is if it doesn't do the job. ----- if the petroleum-based fertilizer works the best, then a consumer is going to use that product, despite the cost.

ronpal

that post was directed entirely at theotherguy1234

You and I have been able to debate quite civilly earlier, it was theotherguy1234 calling me a terrorist and and liberal in a derogatory manner and will most likely be going into ignore status.

I find it to be a direct correlation that all of cattle farms near the fracking areas on ND are suddenly losing cattle to unknown illness. The cattle are losing their hair, tails and developing other illnesses which are killing the herds. The government doesn't care about health as much as money. How else could you explain the big push of GMO foods? Get your heads out of your not so sunny spots, pro frackers, the proof is all around you but money talks and seems to be more important to you than lives and health.

theotherguy1234-

"Be extremely careful of anything that ever uses words like "possibly, likely, potentially", its almost certainly propaganda. Those words don't have any meaning and are impossible to validate, you can say anything with them and be correct in saying it."

I work in the medical field and those words are frequently used. I would be careful of someone who uses words like "almost certainly", you can say anything with with them.

People do not move to ND out wanting to live in ND, they move there out of desperation.

And when they can, they leave, which is why North Dakota's unemployment is so low. I knew a couple who moved there for a job, and ended up in a cold-water, uninsulated shanty in the winter. They got out.

high cost of living ??? are you kidding ??? ---- compared to where ???

To be honest, it sounds like a much nicer place to live than the fairly densely populated parts of America.

and in the event of an EMP attack, the scenarios give the middle part of the country, like ND, a 50% survival rate compared to that of the east coast or SoCal, where the death rate is predicted to be well over 90%.

People do not move to ND out wanting to live in ND, they move there out of desperation.

And when they can, they leave

That is what I see. I've seen plenty leave for ND, but they always come back. Usually muttering something about the cold.

I think there are some parallels that can be drawn between this and the gold rush of 1849. Boomtowns sprung up overnight around gold mines, right in the middle of hot, dry, God-forsaken deserts. However, as soon as the gold dried up, the town died. Gold was the one and only reason the town existed in such a horrible place, and once it was gone, no one had a reason to stay.

North Dakota is the least populated, coldest, most isolated, miserablest state in the union. The only reason there is any boom there is oil and natural gas. Per the sign in the picture above, if a gas station is paying $14/hr for night help, you can bet the cost of living is insane too. Once the land has been raped to death for all its natural resources, all of these people will pull out and go somewhere else.

heck ---- at mcdonalds, starting pay is over $10 per hour, with a $300 signing bonus. ----- the walmart is so busy, they just leave everything on pallets.

Antistupidity is correct, and so is Angry Sailor. On cattle ranches in N Dakota, cattle are dropping their tails, losing massive amounts of weight and dying within a week. The USDA only checks for gross diseases they can eyeball, and these cattle and their dairy products are slipping into our food supply unnoticed.

They are dying from respiratory diseases, and unbelievably high amounts of heavy minerals leeched from the soil in the fracking process. They have also been found to have very high levels of benzene and arsenic, two known chemicals used in fracking. Arsenic is now in all our rice products as well.

The fracking corporations have sued ranchers who complain, and they've forced many cattle ranchers into nondisclosure agreements. The ranchers, stuck with sick cattle, are turning their heads and selling their cattle into the food supply anyway, having few other options.

One farmer published a video on YouTube showing fire coming out of his water-hose from methane released into the water by fracking--the fracking company sued him for defamation, AND WON.

These sick and dying cattle are our canaries. They are telling us what our future will be.

And yes, it was Dick Cheney who exempted fracking from requirements of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts as he was leaving office. Bush was stupid but Cheney is evil.

Fracking uses enormous quantities of fresh water and turns it all into a potent chemical brine that has nowhere to go but back into our environment. There isn't enough water in the USA for people or agriculture to use--and this polluted brine will never be usable as fresh water again. We lack facilities to purify this chemical stew.

Officials in Pennsylvania are telling people there to buy their water in bottles. Four other states have contaminated water tables due to fracking as well.

Each fracking well of 6 acres requires 3,000 truck runs to and from, which kicks up dust from the wells and spreads it into the air, so people in N Dakota are getting sick from the chemicals and heavy metals, too.

Please read (if we the people don't stop it, we may all die, it IS that serious):

1) "Cornell Study Links Fracking Wastewater with Mortality in Farm Animals," published 01/16/2012 at ecowatch.org

2) "Fracked cattle were quarantined, now give birth to dead calves" by TXSHARON.com on OCTOBER 19, 2011

3) "Is Fracking Contaminating U.S. Livestock?" published 12/03/2012 at allgov.com

4) "Study links fracking to livestock disease and death" published 12/04/2012 at irjci.blogspot.com


5) "Livestock Falling Ill in Fracking Regions, Raising Concerns About Food
" published 12/17/2012 at livinggreenmag.com
and: "Fracking Our Food Supply" published 11/28/2012 in theNation.com

6) "Cows With Tails That Fall Off- Fracking?" – Center for Health ...

What is so sick about all this is, we have the wherewithal in this country to turn away from fossil fuels now, before they're gone and civilization comes to a screaming halt. WHatever happened to America's 'can do' attitude? When did that die?


Only the government can help us develop a smart electrical grid protected from crazy weather and able to store and transmit energy from wind and solar. These are non-outsourceable jobs, careers! And the energy is free--and forever.


What the hell is wrong with us? First, let's fire the Republicans who are obstructing EVERYTHING.


They really are Public Enemy #1 on every g--damn level.

A lot of hearsay and misinforming going on here.

The number one group leaving North Dakota are the youth. This is because many of the higher paying professional jobs with relatively lower costs are in much denser poplulated areas. It is a little more expensive to live there because to get people to fill positions, employers have to pay $2-$3 per hour more to have enough staff AND because tranporting less goods a greater distance means transporation costs are higher. All that get's passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

Dee, I hate to think what will be left if anything in a few generations, we have caused the extinction of many species and will likely cause our own extinction. The sad part is because of the dumbing down of America we will likely be the first species in history to cause our own extinction, and it is completely avoidable. We have the technology to stop it now, but in the never ending pursuit of paper(money) we turn a blind eye, its all about greed.

I have no children, and my mother used to tell all us kids she wanted grandchildren, now she says she is glad she doesn't have any, she recognizes what they would have to face and deal with. It is so sad, and so preventable.

We now have a globalized economy and globalized pollution to go along with it. Rivers run out into the oceans carrying these pollutants with them, ocean currents in turn distribute the pollution globally and the wind currents carry it worldwide. I doubt there is a place on earth that is untouched by the industrialized nations pollution and we are reaching the point of supersaturation. The time to act is now, the next pollution summit(Kyoto accords) are in 2020, I suspect by then it may be irreversible. I don't believe the world will end tomorrow but it is well on the way to being poisoned. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands or millions of years before the planet is able to cleanse itself enough to be able to support the magnificence and splendor we are destroying. At this rate I think there may be only a few generations left, and yet people still bury their heads in the sand and listen to the three percent of corporate scientists claiming that 97% of scientists is not enough to form a consensus.

only 5% of cattle raised in ND are in the area where fracking is being done. --------- DB ---- higher prices than where ??? ----- i travel to ND at least once a year, and prices there are much better than CA, OR, or WA. ------ and housing is much cheaper there than on the west coast.

Dee

You need to verify the sources you read. They are very misleading.

The cattle dying was from the above normal temperatures according to reports from veterinarians.

They have also been found to have very high levels of benzene and arsenic, two known chemicals used in fracking.

Nobody uses benzene and arsenic to do fracking unless they are already present in the water they pumped from supply wells down the hole to frack.

Clearly you do not know that Dakota also has large deposits of lignite. Lignite, also known as "Brown coal", is a low grade coal with higher amounts of benzene, toluene, arsenic, and other impurities than natural gas which only has a trace amount of these chemicals. I don't know that anyone mines lignite because mitigating these impurities is very costly in the US.

Fracking is at 6000 - 7000 feet below the surface. Lignite is anywhere from just below the surface to 2500 feet below the surface. You want me, who has to understand geology and chemical issues to believe that a natural gas with trace amounts of poisons 6000 feet below the surface is going to be poisoning the air and water more than Lignite that is polluting the water table on a daily basis with higher concentrations than the Natural gas?

I only know of one case were fracking caused water pollution problems in Texas. That well was 1000 feet below the surface, not 6000.

What happens is people outside come in and volunteer to test people's water. When the water comes back high in benzene and Arsenic, they tell them to sue, which they do. But with over 100 years of experience with fracking companies take water samples, have them tested and assemble all water tests that they can get from previous years before they start any work.

Then, when they get sued, the plaintiff's sample and compare it to the records of tests in the area and compare it to fresh samples taken along with pre-fracking samples shows a negligible change or no change, which the court then rules in favor of the driller.

I would like to think that the Cornell report was cherry picked, because typically in a legitimate study all other potential sources of contamination would have been investigated and eliminated.

The last time the EPA got in the act of trying to shut down Fracking was in Colorado. They did this based on reports that showed the contaminants increasing. They ignored a stream of water, containing the contaminants coming directly out of a nearby coal mine.

Find some people who are objective and actually check up on the legitimacy of what they read, OK?

ronpaul

The housing and land is cheaper. I had a brother who lived in VT. Everything was more expensive, unless you knew were to go. If you knew were to go, you could actually live pretty inexpensively.

Where I grew up in Western PA, we always filled up and shopped in the city 15 miles away because locally, you pay more for most food, gas and building materials if you bought in the local villages and towns.

I would really like to know why so many libs are anti jobs. Here we have a state that has lot's of jobs and Antistupidity doesn't like it because they happen to be oil jobs. I, personally, think that is pretty stupid. Our economy is pretty messed up and jobs are important, and these aren't just low paying jobs, they are way above average paying jobs. Just seems to me destructive to the nation to be so anti work. These oil jobs have been around for a long time, and the destruction of the earth because of it, I just don't see. You should celebrate people who have good jobs and aren't on the govt. dole. Many libs have this mentality and I just don't get it.

DB Akron

The cattle dying was from the above normal temperatures according to reports from veterinarians.

Then how come we don't have cattle suddenly losing weight and dying in a week, why don't we have cattle who's tails are falling off, during heat waves across the south and mid west almost every year.

Who do the vets work for, who chose the vets used, and who paid the vet bill.

Blinders on, ignore and don't queastion anything that doesn't fit your agenda.

My thoughts too.

did you not read the article ??? ---- only 1/3 of the new jobs are oil-related. ----- ND leads all the other states in several agricultural products, and are in the top 5 in many others..

and you would rather we all live in caves I know, you are against nuclear, pretty much against everything and wind and sun will only do a small %. What a wennie. and for you complaining wennies about the people, I grew up in Mt. and have lived all over the US and the world and the finest people in the world are in that area. ND once had a war with MT they were throwing hand gernadesa at Montanan's and the people in Montana were pulling the pins out and throwing them back.

Fine a caveat, it will have some of the fastest declining cities in the country.

Dan, i am pro nuclear.

in terms of population, there are only two ND cities much affected by the oil population increase ---- williston, and minot. ------ williston has always been a small city, but minot has always been one of the 4 largest, so any change there is minor compared to that of williston, and a handful of very small towns in their proximity. ------ and for those smaller towns, when the oil is done, since they are agricultural communities, life will go right back to where it was before the oil. ------ not that oil production is a new concept to northwestern ND.

When that's all you have of course you are going to go with that. Their are many places in america that are huge resources of coal, oil , and natural gas, are they supposed to ignore it? If that's all your economy CAN be based on, then good for you for creating a good living for a lot of people.

fargo is a misnomer ---- most of that movie takes place in minnesota. ----- i agree, however..... if you don't like cold winters, it's not a good place to be, unless you need the money really bad.

I have recently come into land in ND,2 of my parents grew up there along with their siblings,they love it,I never have, it is too hot in the Summer and too cold in the winter,but land was very affordable back in the day,now that the oil boom is going on its great for jobs,even Wallmart was hiring at $17 an hour,every resturant was hiring as well as everywhere I looked help wanted signs were,the economy as a whole is great for all who want and need a job,price of living is now beginning to go up,however that's what happens,with more people comes new housing,stores,building but it was cheaper than where I live for the most part And I ran into some rude folks,but the majority of people that live and or are from the Midwest are good people,example: I show up at 9pm dark and windy,and before I could pull all the way onto my property and exit my car,the people from across the road had drivin up to see who I was and insisted I and my spouse stay at their home(we were going to camp out and we did but it would have been a pain in the dark in a strange land,so inviting complete strangers into your home is something you wouldn't get in the City.Now to maybe get a nice place set up for all those workers to stay in, so I can make a little cash from my property there,after all I've been unemployed in Obama's Shovel ready jobs for 2 yrs now...If only he could get things moving like ND we would all benefit,capitalism works.

"I will not go to Fargo!" "I will retire to the west, diminish, and remain Galadriel!" In my case, i will not go to Fargo. I will remain in California work three jobs, pay lot's of taxes, fill my truck up with $5.00 a gallon gas and live in a Yurt because the average price of a home along the coast is $500,000......

very true ---- was born in jamestown, went to highschool in oakes. ----- after the navy, lived in and around bismarck for awhile. ------ college at msu in moorhead.

ND has the country's largest windfarm owned by a co-op. ----- if i remember correctly, somewhere about 150 miles east of where this oil business is going on, or about an hour's drive west of grand forks..

fyi ---- ND leads the country in the production of flaxseed, canola, dry peas, barley, dry beans, lentils, and oats. ----- they are among the leaders in wheat, sugar beets, and cattle production.

The largest single welfare recipients in my state are wealthy republicans actually, isn't that wierd?

Not considering you lying,it's not weird at all.

Troy I find that hard to believe. I think you would blame the end of the world on republicans, funny how NOTHING is ever a democrats fault. They are allergic to accepting responsibility for anything, of course they have a good role model in president Obama.

that would be different. ----- would certainly cut down on those winter heating bills.

Probably the GOP science advisors way of addressing soil erosion and drought in the Sun Belt and lower Midwest farms which will go unproductive sooner than later - warm up the Dakota and Canada tundra for growing more in longer planting seasons in what will be the old snow belt...great soil and probably better yields per acre in a few decades.

Troy, why do you put down people who create jobs and people who have jobs. It makes me wonder, do you even have a job?

You have a Walmart . . . and a stop light?!!! For me, they're both 65 miles west of here. : )

Right, we uptown now!

contaminated water supply ?? where ??? , in canada ??? ---- because that's where the local river ends up.

Wow. it's called an aquifer.

so what ??? ---- it still ends up in canada. ----- there's a continental divide that runs across there ---- even the red river that flows thru fargo ends up in canada.

if there is contamination in the water supply in williston, then there is also contamination in the water when it gets to canada.

ronpal: Please read the articles I put up especially for you. You seem hellbent on insisting all the chemical brine ends up in Canada--clearly you're okay with the USA contaminating another country--just so long as it isn't our own??

But you see, it's already happening here. These sick and dying cattle are getting into our food chain. So, sorry for you if you eat meat or consume dairy. Or if you need fresh water.

that area of ND only produces 5% of ND's cattle, which is only a very tiny fraction of total USA cattle production. ------ now i suppose you're going to try to tell me the FDA doesn't test meat from all areas on a random basis.

don't even bother trying ---- one of my friends and former employees, is a retired meat inspector.

You should be careful of the name you use, with vulgarity like that!

he is ----- i'm surprised he agreed to this..... unless..... maybe the deal had already been consummated before he had a chance to complain about it.

We all know who is and has been doing the complaining around here. Don't try to take the last possible claim to anything the Retardicans have!

Yes, PigLizard, under president Obama we've INCREASED oil production in the USA. By a significant margin--you see, he's actually a moderate Republican--you know, the kind we had back in the 1980s.

Most of it is privately owned,people have had farms there for years,very large and have always been drilling,but its a needed product and they are supplying it by putting wells all around their property,as well as unfortunate people that bought near them before the boom,I personally know a few in the Watford City,Dickinson,Williston,Minot areas,and They have had no contamination,they have had it tested Pryor to and since the drilling began,however that's not to say a leak or something else could happen,most of us that live in the City have more toxins around us,but I would be vigilant about the testing.

It's a miracle that they can have an oil boom up there, considering Obama is making it harder and harder for anyone to do anything with oil and coal. He is very ( anti ) against these groups. He is for corporations like Solyndra, oh that's right, oil companies make money and of course we know how Solyndra turned out. The only ones who made any money were his cronies who took the taxpayers money with them. I believe that would be the democrats, wouldn't it piglizard?

depends on how you feel about wearing insulated underwear.

Learn to love hockey.

what makes their growth a bit unique, is that 1/3 of it is in a fairly small area of the state. ----- imagine adding 5000 people into an area that had only about 14,000 starting out.

it would be the rough infrastructure equivalent of adding one million people to the city of LA, in about one year's time. ----- i think you can guess at the myriad difficulties associated with doing that.

who will have the problems ??? ---- the water that travels thru this fracking area ends up in canada. ------- and of course, by the tone of your statement, i guess we can assume YOU have zero bias.

Based on your spelling and grammar, you either didn't make much money fracking, or you went to a really cheap college....