Posts Tagged ‘bakken’

‘Black Gold Boom’ film documentary

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

Some Native American tribes have banned fracking on tribal lands. With vast deposits of oil underneath its borders, Three Affiliated Tribes is at a crossroads. Should the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in western North Dakota drill for black gold or outlaw oil exploration on its land? Tribal member Marty Young Bear worries about environmental effects. Meanwhile, local leaders rush to form a tribal-owned oil company with the motto “Sovereignty by the Barrel.”

The documentary, directed by Todd Melby, is now available for online streaming.

Previously, the documentary aired on PBS World Channel (155 stations nationwide), Prairie Public, Alaska Public Media, TPT (Twin Cities PBS), New Mexico PBS, Wyoming PBS, Arizona Public Television, WOSU Ohio, Colorado Public Television, KEDT (South Texas), SOPTV (Southern Oregon), WTVP (Peoria, Illinois), WSKG/WSQX (New York), KVIE (Sacramento, California) and WDSC (Daytona Beach, Florida).

Black Gold Boom

Press coverage:
MPR News
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Midwest Energy News
TPT Almanac (begins at 23:15)

Oil Country: A View From The Air

Saturday, August 15th, 2015

Take a tour of oil country with photographer Ben Garvin.

You may also listen to an interview with Ben on the audio player (above). To view the photos full screen, click on the rectangle in the bottom right-hand corner of one of the photographs.

Photo by Ben Garvin

Ben Garvin's Bakken Aerials

Then Came The Bust

Monday, July 27th, 2015

In the summer of 2015, North Dakota’s rig count dipped to 73, the fewest number of drilling rigs working in the state since 2009. In this post, we’re highlighting a series of stories focused on how people are coping with the downside of the boom. In “Going Good, Then The Rig Count Dropped,” (above) we hear from Steve Brown, owner of a water hauling company who is struggling to keep his small business from going under.

In “This Is Our New Home,” (below) we meet Kendra Hill. She moved to the Bakken with her husband a few years ago. Thanks to a high-paying oilfield job, the young couple could afford to start a family and buy a house. No matter what happens in oil country, they’re planning to stay in North Dakota.

(A 2016 update, courtesy of Reuters: In North Dakota’s Oil Patch a Humbling Comedown)

In “Hoping The Downplay Hurts The Greed,” (below) Don Williams offers up an unexpected side effect to the oil patch slowdown: lower prices. When the boom was churning at full speed, rents were too darn high. And now? Williams still has job at transload company in Ross, North Dakota, and things aren’t so expensive.

In 2015, Marketplace’s Annie Baxter also produced several stories on the downturn. Listen here:

Oil downturn takes men out of ‘man camps’
The oil economy, as measured in hot dogs and U-Hauls
North Dakota oilfield slowdown ripples across businesses
North Dakota oil town: Is it a bust or slowdown?

Stuffed Shirts v. Blue Collars

Monday, August 25th, 2014

People who hate it, call it “pollution.” People who love it, call it “rollin’ coal.” We’re talking about the plumes of black smoke that come pouring out of some diesel pickups. These pickup truck owners are retrofitting their rigs to allow for unburnt diesel fuel to spew from a tailpipe or vertical stack during a fast acceleration. When smoke pours from a pipe or stack, the unburnt diesel is thick and black. An interview with Mark Pyatt of Killer Diesel Performance about the young men and women who love to roll coal in oil country.

Top Photo: Calvin Fields in Williston, North Dakota.
Bearded Man Photo: Mark Pyatt in Williston, North Dakota.
Other Photos: Calvin Field and friends in Williston, North Dakota.

Story and Photos by Todd Melby

Made possible by a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council

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They’re Like Packs of Wolves

Friday, March 21st, 2014

When Nathina St. Pierre moved to Watford City, North Dakota, she received lots of attention from men. “It was flattering at first,” she said. But it never stopped. Everywhere she went, men of all ages hit on her. The sexual harassment became worse and worse. So St. Pierre took action. This is one story of the oil boom, as told to photojournalist Ben Garvin and produced by Black Gold Boom’s Todd Melby.

Related content: “A Scary Place for Women,” Black Gold Boom’s most popular video. By Ben Garvin.

A Fresh Start

Monday, October 14th, 2013

Elsie Ejismekwu is a trucker and cabbie in Watford City. Divorced and a mother of five, she moved to the Bakken for the work, which pays more than most other places in America. Says Ejismekwu, “I wanted a fresh start so I came to North Dakota.”

Story and photos by Todd Melby

Made possible by a grant from the North Dakota Humanities Council

Truck View - Watford City

Coco and Elsie

In The Eye Of The Boom

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013

Todd Melby, reporter and lead producer at Black Gold Boom, has written an essay on his experiences of living in the Bakken. “In The Eye Of The Boom” appears in the summer issue of “On Second Thought,” published by the North Dakota Humanities Council.

The article begins, appropriately enough, at DK’s Lounge, a watering hole in Williston. Click below to read, beginning at page 12.

Photo by Ben Garvin

Stan Reep’s Milkshake

Sunday, January 27th, 2013

Imagine you owned mineral rights in western North Dakota. And crude oil was stuck inside rock under the land where you owned those rights. You’d be rich, right? That’s what one Williston man thought too. Then the state came along and took that oil. Black Gold Boom reporter Todd Melby has the story of one man’s fight for oil he believes is rightfully his.

Bacon Ends, Not Baking Hens

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

In the last 60 years, Williston has seen its share of oil booms. And with each boom, come lots of male oilfield workers. In 1952, a group of oilfield workers’ wives decided to form a social group called the Ladies Petroleum Club. They’ve been meeting monthly to share meals, play cards, host dances — all kinds of stuff. Audio portrait and photo by Laura Candler.

Photo (left to right): Peggy Heth, Donna Peterson, Linda Alton, Sylvia McCauley, Steph Eslinger and Wendy Bauste.

Williston Changes Before Her Eyes

Saturday, December 22nd, 2012

Beth Hafele once lived on the western edge of Williston, North Dakota. Then the oil boom came. From the third floor of her apartment building, she’s seen hundreds of houses and an oil rig pop up on the previously empty prairie. Now her apartment is pretty much in the middle of town. Audio portrait and photo by Todd Melby.

It’s Simply A Meal: Come and Eat

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

If you’re hungry or lonely on a Sunday evening in Williston, North Dakota, First Lutheran Church is the place to be. Volunteers from many churches and civic groups take turns cooking meals and providing fellowship to newcomers and those who have been in town for decades.

Audio portrait by Todd Melby and Diane Richard

Photos by Todd Melby

The Sound of Money

Monday, October 29th, 2012

Drilling rig

If you have mineral rights in western North Dakota, the sound of a pumpjack is the sound of money. Click and listen to the eerie sound of one pumper, located a few miles east of Williston, North Dakota.

Recording by Todd Melby

Photo by Ben Garvin

Jessie Veeder’s Boomtown [video]

Thursday, October 25th, 2012

In this Black Gold Boom video, singer/songwriter Jessie Veeder reflects on how the oil boom in western North Dakota has affected her hometown.

No View, No Seats: Maeda’s Tasty Tacos

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Boomtowns bring with them appetites. Restaurants catering to oil workers in western North Dakota try to meet diners’ demands. But waits are long, and so are lines for drive-thrus. One solution is the food truck. In Williston, one food truck is putting an authentic twist on Mexican takeaway.

Story by Diane Richard

Photos by Todd Melby

May We Take Your Order?

They Call Us ‘The Sardines’

Saturday, September 1st, 2012

To make it in the Bakken boom, North Dakota newcomers need to work hard and make sacrifices. But what exactly are those sacrifices? Black Gold Boom reporter Todd Melby recently met Chris Larson, Jeffrey Prather and Domanick David (left to right), a group of young men who came to the oil patch looking for work. What they found surprised them.

Photo by Ben Garvin

Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

James Goeres sells pickup truck stickers from a mobile home. His motto: “Tattoo Your Ride, Not Your Hide.”

Shane Osborne: It Ain’t Working Out So Good

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Shane Osborne arrived in boom country looking for work. He found it. But housing is too expensive so he’s toughing it out in a trailer. Life isn’t great, he says.

Audio portrait by Todd Melby

Photo by Ben Garvin