A couple of months ago, I wrote about an oil well pad at the top of the Van Hook boat ramp on Lake Sakakawea. I’ve learned a few things about it since then. First, the basics. There’s a little blue-collar resort community at the top of the Van Hook Arm of Lake Sakakawea, a couple of hundred trailers and cabins …
Note: This post has been updated from its original version because of some additional information provided to me by the North Dakota Health Department. Thanks to Inspector Bill Suess for that. Out in the Oil Patch, when a pipeline leaks, or a tank overflows, or a valve is accidentally left open, and something (mostly oil and toxic salt water) spills …
North Dakota’s oil boom was built on the back of lax regulation of the oil industry. Period. When Jack Dalrymple takes credit for the oil boom, let’s remind him: The train that blew up in West Virginia on Monday did not have to blow up. It could have derailed without blowing up. It’s easy to blame the railroad — they …