DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — The rapid growth of North Dakota’s oil patch communities has so overwhelmed the infrastructure that the former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan compared the area to a battle field, a state legislator said Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner said he met with retired Gen. David Petraeus after the former CIA director visited oil patch communities in April.
“He (Petraeus) said, ’You know, this kind of looks like a war zone,’” Wardner said at the annual meeting of the North Dakota Petroleum Council in Dickinson.
While oil has brought high-paying jobs and a robust economy to the region, the pace of development has proven too much for infrastructure. Roads are clogged with oil field traffic, schools are overcrowded, and law enforcement and emergency medical services struggle to cope.
Some projects are in force to improve conditions, but more money is needed, and faster, at the county level, Wardner said.
Earlier this month, state Republicans unveiled an $800 million spending plan aimed at alleviating oil patch infrastructure concerns, and on Wednesday they proposed that 60 percent of oil production tax revenue be distributed to local governments and 40 percent to the state. The state currently gets 75 percent.
Wardner said he hopes the plans will be quickly approved when the legislature convenes in January.
Local authorities in oil-producing areas have “got to know they’ve got this money coming so they can plan and get these projects done,” he said.
Sen. Connie Triplett, a Grand Forks Democrat, underlined the low quality of life for many in the oil patch and said that few residents plan to stay forever. She said legislators need to agree on long-term solutions.
“We need to find a way to make it permanent so we’re not changing up the formula every time, we’re not using one-time funds every time,” said Triplett. That will ensure oil impacted areas can “prepare for the future,” she said.
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