North Dakota state officials told the Army Corps of Engineers this week that shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline would have devasting economic impacts for both the energy and ag sectors, including significant loss of jobs and tax revenue and disruptions to rail transportation.

Representatives of several state agencies provided comments at two public meetings this week on the Corps' Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the easement for the existing DAPL crossing south of Bismarck. Staff from Gov. Doug Burgum's office delivered comments, as well as representatives from the Department of Mineral Resources, Department of Agriculture, Public Service Commission and Office of Management and Budget.

The draft EIS did not include a recommendation whether to re-issue the easement. The Corps' initial approval of the easement was invalidated by a federal court decision in 2020 that ordered the full EIS to be completed. The Corps evaluated five alternatives, three of which would require shutdown of the pipeline which has been moving more than 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day since it began operation more than six years ago.

DMR Director Lynn Helms said any reduction in crude oil pipeline capacity will increase the risks and cost of transporting North Dakota oil to refining facilities by forcing oil onto less efficient trains and trucks.

"Shutting down, suspending, or otherwise obstructing DAPL operations .... would unnecessarily and irreparably harm North Dakota and its citizens," Helms said in comments read into the record. "It would result in congested railways and roadways, billions of dollars of lost tax revenue, and thousands of lost jobs."

During discussion of the state's "all-of-state-government" strategy in support of DAPL during this week's Industrial Commission meeting, Gov. Doug Burgum posed the question, what are they trying to accomplish?

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

State officials estimate shutting down DAPL would reduce state revenues by approximately $1.2 billion in the first year and $105 million per year after that until DAPL is up and running again. Comments submitted by the governor’s office noted that with high inflation and gas prices creating hardship for individuals and families, the nation should be doing everything possible to ensure the safe and efficient production and transportation of affordable, reliable energy for citizens.

“Cutting off the flow of oil through DAPL would drastically reduce the flow of oil tax revenue in our state," governor’s Chief of Staff Jace Beehler said in comments for the record. "Oil tax collections account for roughly half of state tax revenues in North Dakota, supporting everything from schools, hospitals and airports to road construction, water projects and other critical infrastructure.”

Click here to see a breakdown of the analysis performed in the draft EIS. Click here and here for articles in the Bismarck Tribune about the two nights of hearings.

Energy Transfer has announced the completion of its previously announced merger with Crestwood Equity Partners, which operates midstream assets located in the Williston Basin, Delaware Basin and Powder River Basin.

As a result of the acquisition, Energy Transfer now owns and operates more than 125,000 miles of pipelines and related assets in all the major U.S. producing regions and markets across 41 states. When the proposed acquisition was announced in August, its value was pegged at $7.1 billion.

Crestwood operations in the Williston Basin gather crude oil and produced water, and gather and process natural gas covering 550,000 acres in eastern Montana and North Dakota including the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Its assets are capable of gathering 420 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, 250,000 barrels of crude oil gathering capacity, 421,000 bbl/day of produced water gathering and disposal capacity, and 430 million cubic feet per day of natural gas processing capacity.

The Williston Basin systems connect to DAPL, Hiland, Tesoro and Bakken; rail via the COLT Hub; and inbound and outbound trucking. Click here to see a map of Crestwood's North Dakota operations.

Talon Metals Corporation has signed an agreement with the US Department of Energy setting the terms, conditions and performance milestones for $114,846,344 in grant funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agreement will allow Talon to begin accessing funding under the DOE with milestones for the siting, design, permitting, community engagement, construction and commissioning of a battery minerals processing facility in Mercer County. The operation will be capable of processing ore from multiple sources in North America. The North Dakota processing facility will produce nickel in concentrate for Tesla.

“We are grateful to be entrusted with this funding ... to reduce America’s dependence on foreign countries like Russia and China for critical minerals like nickel," said Talon CEO Henri van Rooyen. "This agreement includes our commitments to engage with the local community in North Dakota to ensure community input and benefit sharing, develop a diverse workforce with our partners in organized labor and seek meaningful input from tribal sovereign nations in the region.”

Talon’s facility was selected by DOE in October 2022 as one of the projects that will receive funding to expand and secure the United States domestic manufacturing of electric batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and grid storage.

“We are committed to producing the necessary ingredients like nickel for the US battery supply chain while also protecting the environment and cultural resources where we operate," said Talon Chief External Affairs Officer and Head of Climate Strategy Todd Malan. "Now we can move forward with our partners to advance the planning and construction of the battery minerals processing facility in North Dakota.”

Members of the North Dakota Industrial Commission were informed this week that the ND Farm Bureau has filed a petition to intervene as a plaintiff if the Northwest Landowners Association lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's law governing the use of underground pore space.

The suit argues that amalgamation of pore space represents an unconstitutional taking of an individual's property. NWLA also contends that a state law requiring "equitable" compensation for non-consenting pore space owners is not the same as a provision in the state constitution that states that "private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use without 'just' compensation."

In a statement provided to WDEA, Farm Bureau President Daryl Lies said NDFB believes no law should take away constitutional property rights and due process.

“The law being challenged in court has done that by moving away from due process and putting it into a bureaucratic decision-making process," Lies said. "The care and use of an individual's private property depends upon making these decisions unabridged from government laws, which overreach and inhibit such decisions.”

State law related to the underground storage of carbon dioxide provides for the amalgamation of property interests related to pore space. It requires consent of 60 percent of affected surface owners before a storage project can proceed, and authorizes the Industrial Commission to require the pore space of nonconsenting owners to be included in the storage facility. Another section of law sets out 14 requirements that must be met before an underground storage project is approved. Among the conditions is that an applicant must make a good-faith effort to get consent of all landowners, as well as a requirement that "all nonconsenting pore space owners are or will be equitably compensated."

Gov. Doug Burgum expressed surprise when informed of the NDFB's request to intervene in the lawsuit which was filed in late May.

"Wow," Burgum said, "because they don't want their members to get large checks for CO2 storage?"

"Certainly we can find Farm Bureau members who would benefit, so if they are allowed to intervene, we should make sure that we're making that case," Burgum added

Solicitor General Phil Axt said the state is opposing the late request because it will disrupt the schedule the court has set to hear the lawsuit.

Click here to see a ND Farm Bureau policy memorandum on landowner rights submitted as testimony during the 2023 legislative session.

MDU Resources Group announced this week that its board of directors has approved a plan to spin off the company's wholly-owned construction services business, MDU Construction Services Group, Inc., to the shareholders of MDU Resources, resulting in two independent, publicly-traded companies. 

"We expect this strategic move to significantly enhance the value within our businesses by creating two focused, independent companies that are publicly traded while achieving our stated goal of transforming MDU Resources into a pure-play regulated energy delivery business," said MDUR CEO Dave Goodin.

MDU Construction Services Group was started in 1997 and has grown significantly, achieving record revenues of $2.7 billion and record earnings of $124.8 million in 2022. MDU Resources Chairman Dennis Johnson said the board believes MDU Construction Services Group is ready to continue its success as a stand-alone public company.

"The board has determined that a tax-free spinoff of MDU Construction Services Group could unlock significant value for shareholders," Johnson said. "We will diligently oversee the spinoff process to ensure MDU Resources and MDU Construction Services Group are optimally positioned to become independent companies with the potential to generate attractive shareholder returns."

After the spinoff is complete, MDU Resources will be a pure-play regulated energy delivery business with headquarters remaining in Bismarck. The company's electric and natural gas utilities, Cascade Natural Gas Corp., Intermountain Gas Co. and Montana-Dakota Utilities, provide service to 1.2 million customers across eight states.

The company's pipeline business, WBI Energy, Inc., provides natural gas transportation through 3,800 miles of regulated pipeline systems in the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains of the U.S., as well as underground natural gas storage services with North America's largest naturally-occurring storage field near Baker, Montana.

MDU Resources expects earnings from its regulated energy delivery businesses in the range of $155 million to $165 million for 2023. The spinoff of the construction services subsidiary is expected to be complete in late 2024.

Click here to read more.

Harvestone announced this week the beginning of carbon dioxide injection as a part of its carbon capture and storage project at the Blue Flint Ethanol facility near Underwood. 

The Blue Flint facility began active CO2 injection in October after receiving final approval from the ND Department of Mineral Resources. Blue Flint is the second facility in North Dakota to actively capture and inject CO2 under Class VI primacy. Red Trail Energy, which operates an ethanol plant in Richardton, began injecting in June 2022.

Lieutenant Governor Tammy Miller and Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring spoke during a ceremony commemorating the start of the CO2 injection project.

“This accomplishment is a win for farmers, Blue Flint Ethanol and all Americans, because anytime we can improve the long-term viability of homegrown fuels and reduce our reliance on foreign sources, we’re strengthening national security, protecting the environment and holding down energy costs for consumers," Miller said. 

The Blue Flint Ethanol plant produces more than 200,000 tons of CO2 per year as a byproduct of the fermentation process. Using CCS, Blue Flint is capturing 100% of its CO2 emissions from the fermentation process and is injecting about 600 tons of CO2 per day where it is permanently stored about a mile below the surface in the Broom Creek formation. 

Click here for more information about Harvestone and its CO2 capture and storage projects.

Two of South Dakota’s first commercial wind turbines were dropped to the ground October 31 by Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

The turbines, each 300 feet tall and providing 2.6 megawatts generating capacity combined, were constructed in December 2001. The turbines were located next to Highway 50 north of Chamberlain, SD.

“The turbines were taken down because they were at the end of their useful life, and replacement parts and service were no longer available,” said Joe Fiedler, Basin Electric manager of distributed generation. “While it is possible to repower wind turbines in many instances, these two could not be repowered because their foundations were not large enough to support the larger equipment that would be necessary. Because it wasn’t possible to repower the turbines, we are committed to reclaiming the site.”

Basin Electric started adding renewables to its portfolio in 2000 and has since added nearly 1,800 MW of wind energy. Today, Basin Electric owns and operates two of the largest wind projects owned solely by a cooperative in the United States: the 172-MW Crow Lake Wind Project in South Dakota and the 115.5-MW PrairieWinds 1 in North Dakota.

Click here to watch a YouTube video of the wind tower demolition.

Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Synfuels Plant recently completed a “brown plant” turnaround and is in the process of going through the multi-step process of startup.

It's called a brown plant turnaround because some portion of the facility is still in operation, so it's not completely black or offline. Plant manager Dale Johnson said there were over 4,000 tasks completed during the turnaround, aimed at improving the efficiency, reliability and safety of the facility.

Click here to listen to Johnson's comments.

“Going into this turnaround, I think we were all concerned about the boiler duct replacement project. That was probably the most complex project for this outage, and it went very well,” Johnson said. “The spray cooler replacement was another large complex project that went well.”

Every turnaround provides an opportunity to make repairs and complete inspections.

“The outage allowed us to perform work on common systems like the steam and cooling piping throughout the plant that are rarely out of service,” Johnson said. “For example, there was a large chunk of plastic, weighing about 3,000 pounds, that was created in a cooling tower fire. This chunk was floating in the cooling tower sump and was damaging the screens on the inlet to the cooling water pumps. This chunk of plastic, plus a bunch of smaller material, was removed from the sump, and this work could only be done during a brown plant outage.”

“I feel really good about our planning effort,” Johnson said. “We were able to complete virtually all of the planned work, plus some work that was identified as we started to open up the equipment; however, there were also a few items that were discovered during the outage that will require action at a later date.”

Cerilon GTL North Dakota has scheduled a November 8 open house in Trenton to share information and answer questions about the company's plan to construct a gas-to-liquids facility adjacent to the community.

The plant will be the first of its kind in North America and the first GTL facility worldwide built with a system to capture carbon dioxide emissions. The estimated cost of Phase 1 of the project is $2.8 billion. Cerilon Chairman Nico Duursema, in a July 2022 interview on the radio program What's On Your Mind, said the facility will convert more than 200 million cubic feet of gas per day into diesel fuel and other petroleum products.

Click here to listen to Duursema's comments.

Duursema said the initial phase of the operation will produce 24,000 barrels of low-sulfur diesel per day. He said future plans could include military-grade jet fuel, fertilizer and other specialty products.

The GTL plant will bring about 1,000 construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs to Williams County. The project also will lead to additional community infrastructure development and long-term property and sales tax revenue. Its use of the state's abundant natural gas resources will also help avoid any reduction of oil production caused by lack of natural gas pipeline takeaway capacity. 

The open house will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. November 8 at the Trenton High School gym and multi-purpose room. Click here to learn more about the project.

Governor Doug Burgum has accepted the resignation of ND Indian Affairs Commission Executive Director Nathan Davis, thanking him for his leadership in fostering state-tribal relations.

Davis, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, indicated he is seeking a better fit for his family closer to home. Burgum has appointed deputy director Brad Hawk to serve in the interim following Davis' departure.

Davis has been in the position since June 2021, serving North Dakota's state and tribal governments to address issues regarding education, court systems, economic development, social services, gaming, oil-energy, law enforcement, transportation, health care, veterans and youth.

“We’re grateful to Nathan for his leadership as we’ve worked with tribal chairs, the legislature and others to advance state-tribal relations, including the completion of new tribal-state gaming compacts, improved collaboration on information technology services and law enforcement, tax sharing agreements, increased scholarships for Native Americans, and more direct access to cost-share for water development projects,” Burgum said.

Hawk has served as deputy director since January and previously as the Commission’s Indian health systems administrator since July 2013. Davis' resignation becomes effective November 13.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission approved eight Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF) grants this week totaling $2.6 million, including a grant to the Pheasants Forever chapter in northwest North Dakota that will create 5,000 acres of habitat open to the public for hunting.

OHF Chairman Bob Kuylen said the $250,000 grant to MonDak Pheasants Forever will enhance wildlife habitat development and hunting access in Divide and Williams Counties.

Click here to listen to Kuylen's comments.

"We thought this was a great project," Kuylen said. "It takes some highly erodible land that isn't producing and puts it into grass. We can raise a bunch of critters and people can hunt them."

The Industrial Commission also approved grants for two separate projects in McLean County. Kuylen said a $66,736 grant to the McLean County Water Resource District will help fund a project to create a fish passage around the Lost Lake Dam on Painted Woods Creek southeast of Washburn. 

Click here to listen to Kuylen's comments.

A separate $50,250 grant to McLean County will help fund construction of a parking lot and a canoe/kayak launch in the Painted Woods Lake Wildlife Development Area.

Click here to see a list of all the OHF grants approved this week.

Dickinson State University is doing its part to address North Dakota's statewide teacher shortage with its Para-to-Educator program, which assists current paraprofessionals in gaining their credentials to become full-time classroom teachers. 

Joan Oigawa Aus, Chair of DSU's School of Education, said the program not only puts more teachers in the classroom, it also helps with retention of teachers, which is a major factor in the shortage. 

"The average teacher used to stay in the field between 10 and 15 years," Aus said. "Now, we’re seeing somewhere between three to five, or up to seven years, depending on who you ask.”

One of the drivers influencing retention rates is classroom challenges and a lack of awareness of those challenges. 

“The challenges that teachers face in the classroom are unlike the challenges we had to face just 10 years ago,” she said. “Classrooms are a reflection of society, and some are pretty challenging.”

Aus said having already been in the classroom, paraprofessionals are aware of the challenges they will face. 

“It’s an additional benefit because these are not brand-new students who have no knowledge of what it’s like to teach in today’s classroom,” Aus said. “We work really closely with our community partners like Dickinson Public School and Killdeer Public School and Bowman, all of these paras are coming out of their schools, so they’re all existing paraprofessionals.”

The program has been in place since 2021, but a newly-awarded state grant from the ND Department of Public Instruction is bringing in more students, covering 100% of their tuition, and for Dickinson Public School’s paraeducators, DPS will pay for their books. Since the grant was awarded, 24 people have applied to the program.

In 2022, DSU’s future educators also received valuable substitute teaching experience in Dickinson Public School. Along with the faculty of the School of Education, 18 students worked with Superintendent Marcus Lewton to substitute teach in the Dickinson elementary schools on Fridays so the teachers in the schools could attend professional development. 

Click here to learn more about the DSU School of Education.

Governor Doug Burgum announced the members of a Task Force for Teacher Retention and Recruitment this week to address the state’s chronic teacher shortage.

The task force was created through executive order in September. The 15-member task force consists of Burgum and State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, or their designees. The 13 members appointed by the governor to represent stakeholders across the education community include:

Patti Stedman, West Fargo, a West Fargo School Board member and member of the Education Standards and Practices Board
Bret Dockter, Harvey, a Harvey Public Schools teacher
Ashley Seykora, Rugby, Rugby Public Schools instructional coach
Abby DuBord, Bismarck, a Bismarck Public Schools teacher
Luke Schaefer, Minot, CEO of the Central Regional Education Association
Robert Lech, Jamestown, Jamestown Public Schools superintendent
John Porter, Fargo, director of the South Valley and Rural Cass Special Education Units
James Green, Watford City, high school principal at McKenzie County Public Schools
Sherry Tandeski, St. John, elementary school principal at St. John Public Schools
Jenny Bladow, Northwood, director of teacher education, UND College of Education & Human Development
Erin Jacobson, Bismarck, coordinator of the Teacher Support System
State Senator Dean Rummel, Dickinson
State Representative Steve Swiontek, Fargo

The task force will conduct meetings and roundtable discussions to gather feedback from stakeholder groups across the state. Members will make recommendations in several areas, including increasing recruitment to the teaching profession, improving teacher preparation programs, teacher licensure, teacher evaluation, working conditions and supports, as well as reviewing compensation and contracts.

The Task Force must provide a final report with recommendations to the governor and superintendent by September 30, 2024, and identify partners to sponsor legislation during the 2025 legislative session.

Reprinted from NDDOT website

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! The Blizzard Wizard is up to the challenge, and so are his friends, Truck Norris, Darth Blader, Stormin’ Norman, and a whole crew of as-yet-unnamed plows. The ND Department of Transportation is excited to bring back the Name-A-Plow contest for 2023! There were more than 850 submissions last year and we had so much fun with your ideas we just had to do it again.

NDDOT team members will select one winner in each of our eight districts. Winners will receive bragging rights for a lifetime, along with the opportunity to meet the plow they named and its driver.

Contest Rules
Names submitted should be appropriate and under 15 characters.
If the same name is submitted by multiple individuals, the entry that came in first will be the one considered.
Names may be submitted by a group (schools, nursing homes, etc.), but must include a contact name.
Winners will be contacted via email or phone December 11-13.

Winning plow names from previous years will keep their names and repeats will not be considered. See the list of prior winning names here.

So come on, North Dakota. Send us your punny, witty, or creative snowplow names here. Contest entry deadline is November 20.

Compared to last week's hefty first snowfall across western North Dakota, this week was fairly tranquil aside from some blustery weather and fierce winds Monday. The high-resolution cameras on WDEA's Wise Roads weather stations captured a few of those tranquil scenes this week, documenting the aftermath of last week's snowstorm. Photos from Wise Roads cameras are updated continuously throughout the daylight hours on the Wise Roads web page.

The Wise Roads project (Weather Information System to Effectively Reduce Oilfield Delays and Disruptions) was developed by WDEA to increase the efficiency of the movement of oilfield truck traffic. Most weather stations were placed in the core area of Bakken production, focusing on Dunn, McKenzie, Mountrail and Williams Counties. The project provides more accurate weather information to county road managers, especially about rain events, to minimize the need to impose weight restrictions when gravel roads get wet. It was developed in partnership with NDAWN, which maintains the stations for WDEA. The project was also assisted with a $250,000 grant from the Oil & Gas Research Council.

Thus far, 50 new stations have been installed, 39 of which are located in the four core counties. Prior to the start of the project, Dunn and McKenzie Counties had just one station each, Mountrail County had three and Williams County had four. Weather station data and high-resolution photos can be found at wiseroadsnd.com. Additional information is also available from NDAWN. 

Featured shots this week are clockwise from upper left, Sunny Slope with a frozen-over Little Missouri River in southwest Bowman County, Werner with a bright blue sky and a few cumulus clouds in Dunn County, Pick City on a chilly evening with streamers in the distance coming off Lake Sakakawea, and Twin Buttes 4W with a herd of buffalo in search of grass to graze. Click on the link for a high-resolution image.