- 4 days ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Being in a small town like this, you deal with a lot of people that you know, and they all expect breaks.
00:12I'm not going to sit there and be a patsy and get run over top of.
00:15The Bark and Boom, where opportunity abounds on both sides of the law.
00:20Stop! I have a weapon!
00:22It's just constantly going, just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
00:25The Boom brings money and the chance to dream big.
00:28It's an anti-theft device for vehicles.
00:34I don't want to be 80 to 100 hours a week for the rest of my life.
00:38But where there's everything to gain, there are often those with nothing to lose.
00:44The narcotics issue is big in Sydney and it has grown.
00:47You're the one that caused the problem. Look in the mirror.
00:49I've watched families torn apart.
00:51I'm terrified.
00:52I never would have lived this way before, ever, ever, ever.
00:54I've watched people's lives rule.
00:55This law enforcement is kind of my life.
00:57This is the big time now.
01:00I'm going to break.
01:02I'm going to break my.
01:04Going to break my rusty cage.
01:08I'm going to break.
01:11I'm going to break my.
01:13Going to break my rusty cage.
01:156 a.m. in Boomtown and Scott Huff is already out on the open road.
01:28Scott is the oil production foreman for Newfield Exploration Company, which develops and maintains over 40,000 acres of oil wells in the Bakken.
01:36Scott's territory is the region around Watford City, North Dakota.
01:41Pretty much my job is to make sure we're getting the maximum production out of that area.
01:47It's important a well-produced is that's the company's paycheck.
01:51That's the way I look at it.
01:53The Bakken has one of the highest oil outputs of any region in America, with each well averaging nearly 600 barrels a day.
02:01Supervising a team of technicians called lease operators, Scott must ensure that each well yields its maximum amount of oil.
02:11Scott's rounds take him to dozens of wells throughout the Bakken, where he checks the output of each and troubleshoots any problems.
02:19Some of these sites have been in operation for decades, but others are brand new.
02:24All six of these are flowing wells.
02:26These three here are ours, and there's three more right over the hill there.
02:29Every single one of these is producing oil and gas.
02:33All the wells in this group are producing oil and gas with no pumping at all, otherwise known as free-flowing.
02:41A free-flowing well, you're using the natural pressures down hole to help push all your fluids up.
02:47Right now, we're not paying for electricity.
02:49We're not having to pay for a generator to run these.
02:52Every well is different.
02:53I've heard of wells that have free-flowed for over a year.
02:56As the production formats, my job is keeping flowing as long as we possibly can.
03:00Scott discovers that one of his free-flowing wells has slowed to all but a trickle.
03:05I have a well, a flowing well that's trying to die on me.
03:10So what I'm going to do right now is I'm going to open this hole up a little bit more,
03:13and hopefully that will regenerate the well and keep it flowing for a little bit longer.
03:18This is what regulates how much pressure we allow to go to our treaters.
03:23The Barkin formation contains oil, water, and natural gas, and they all come up through the well.
03:29Water is the heaviest of the three elements, and if too much of it accumulates in the well,
03:34it traps the lighter oil and gas down below.
03:37But Scott is a master of the quick fix.
03:41By choking this back, you're not allowing as much water to go through it,
03:44so all that water is down whole.
03:46That water can prevent a well from flowing as well as it does.
03:51Right now, by opening up that, I'm bathing it along,
03:54hoping that we can keep this flowing for a little bit longer.
03:58A mix of oil, natural gas, and salt water gets separated and treated on the same site as the well.
04:03In a building called the Treater Shack.
04:06Here, Scott will be able to see if his fix is working.
04:11The water is rushing through here right now.
04:13It's not as steady.
04:14It's pulsing because water is coming into the treater right now.
04:16It's actually a good sign.
04:18We're getting rid of the water off the well.
04:20Before I opened it up, the pressure on this well was 220 pounds,
04:25and by opening it up, that little bit that I did, it's now 307 pounds.
04:30So my pressure has climbed up already.
04:32Watch the pressures, watch the production, every day, every morning.
04:43You want to go get the paper and the pens for us?
04:45Okay.
04:46I'm going to go get stuff down here.
04:49Ben Moorhead can usually be found transporting oil around the Bakken.
04:53Spending 70 hours a week in his truck gives him plenty of time to think.
05:00Everybody's called me a dreamer.
05:01I've always had ideas.
05:03For some reason, my mind won't shut off.
05:06Today, I'm dedicating my time to going after an invention that I thought of years ago.
05:12He's assisted by his five-year-old son, Titan.
05:17We need that up on the...
05:18I need that on the table.
05:20There are so many tractor-trailer trucks serving the oil industry in the Bakken
05:24that they now account for nearly half of all road traffic in the region.
05:28Truck parts have become a valuable commodity, and vehicle theft is on the rise.
05:34Ben has an idea for a lockbox that will secure a vehicle's stick shift.
05:38It's an anti-theft device for vehicles, semi-trucks, and cars.
05:43I'm going to come up with the drawings, look up the information that I need to get my patent application,
05:48go down to the hardware store and see if I can put this thing together for a prototype.
05:51Let's go.
05:52This isn't Ben's first crack at developing an idea.
05:56Ben's wife, Phoebe, has seen this before.
05:59Ben has had a lot of ideas, and I will never say that any of them weren't good ideas.
06:06His problem is just follow through.
06:07Once it gets a little too difficult for him, he just quits.
06:11I want to get this hook.
06:14And I tell her, but she doesn't understand, that I haven't done anything with it because I have mouths to feed.
06:18This is the reason everything that I come up with gets put on hold.
06:21This is the reason that I don't have any follow-through, as she likes to say.
06:25Now it's up to Ben to prove to Phoebe that he can turn an idea into something real.
06:30Feel how heavy this thing is.
06:35It's very heavy.
06:36Can I get the hook for my venting?
06:39What are you inventing?
06:41I don't know.
06:42That's the thing.
06:43You've got to know what you're inventing before we can start buying materials for it.
06:47Something that has a bunch of hooks.
06:49Something that has a bunch of hooks.
06:50I think we have stuff at home that'll work.
06:51Now that I'm up here in the Bakken, I have the expendable income to actually go forward with some of these things.
06:58And I think she's going to see a lot of things change.
07:00You know what kind of box you'd deliver roses in?
07:03Yeah.
07:04That would be perfect.
07:05That kind.
07:05I can wrap this up in tape for a visual display.
07:10That's perfect.
07:11Can you get me a box?
07:13You can have half of this one.
07:15Okay.
07:16I'll cut it.
07:16Okay?
07:17Okay.
07:17All right.
07:20Putting your money where your mouth is.
07:22But you've got to have the money to do it.
07:24So we'll see what happens.
07:26We've got to see what time it is.
07:27We've got to pick your brother up soon.
07:29So you're ready to help me build my invention?
07:31Yeah.
07:31All right.
07:32And I'm ready to build my invention.
07:42Come on now.
07:44Come on.
07:45Go back.
07:46Let's go.
07:47Ben's anti-theft invention reveals a darker side of the boom.
07:51Everybody's gone.
07:52With a rapid rise of crime comes the demand for more crime fighters.
07:57I'm Alex Rosales.
07:59I'm with the Sydney Police Department here in Montana.
08:01I'm the canine handler.
08:03I have been since April of this year.
08:05I'm from Western Montana.
08:07I was raised in a family of law enforcement.
08:09It's kind of in the blood.
08:10It's a very prideful profession.
08:13All this gear adds about 28 pounds.
08:1623 years old.
08:18Come home and your back aches all the time.
08:20You know, it's kind of different.
08:21Zero time.
08:25In the past six years, narcotics have become a serious problem in the Bakken.
08:30While police departments struggle to keep up, drug prosecutions have skyrocketed by about 200%.
08:37The narcotics issue is big in Sydney, and it has grown tremendously in the last couple of years.
08:43We're seeing a huge increase in drug arrests.
08:45We're seeing a higher level that we're having to use, you know, as far as force goes, just to try and control the situation.
08:51I mean, we're seeing drug-related crimes that increase.
08:55Just the other night, I was on the ground for two minutes wrestling this guy who was high on meth.
08:59This guy kind of looked like our guy from last night.
09:05We have been hiring continuously since I started here.
09:13We've never been a full staff, just because we gain a guy but then lose two.
09:19You know, gain a guy, lose one.
09:20You know, when you can go make $120,000 a year and be sitting good rather than making $40,000, it does affect the department as a whole because you get people leaving to go to the oil field.
09:32At just 23 years of age, Alex is already the second most senior patrol officer on the force.
09:39You know, the thing is, I just got this vehicle.
09:45I just got done with the wedding right now.
09:48All right, well, just do me a favor, hang tight, and I'll be right back to you, okay?
09:51This law enforcement is kind of my life.
09:53This is where I belong, so I'm staying.
09:56What are you saying?
09:57There's a pipe right there that is fine.
09:59Nice.
10:01He lied to me.
10:03My partner just told me that there's a pipe right there.
10:05Let's go ahead and hand it out to me.
10:07And the other one, too?
10:09The best thing we can do is just keep making the arrests and keep trying to get it off the streets and out of the schools.
10:15Your court date on there is September 15, 2014, at 10 o'clock with Judge Moore, and that's upstairs in the courtroom.
10:20What's next?
10:20We're going to try and do that again, but on a larger scale.
10:23We're always, always hunting for the motherlode.
10:31In the Bakken, where crime is also booming, the justice system is still struggling to keep up.
10:37At the Sidney Courthouse, like in the days of the Old West, Judge Greg Moore presides alone against a flood of lawbreakers and troublemakers.
10:48You've got to sit there, and it's just constantly going, just constantly, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
10:53I'm in this room from 7 to 7.30 in the morning.
10:56Sometimes we get out at 7.30 at night.
10:58It just depends on what that particular caseload is.
11:01When we go into the room and I'm wearing a black dress, we're on a different level.
11:06I said, there's professionalism that's there.
11:08I've got to advise you of your rights and make sure you understand them so it's not like, oh, gee golly whiz, you know.
11:13No.
11:14This is the big time now when you walk through that door.
11:16So, where have you been staying?
11:20Because I think the answer to the next question, if it goes pretty much the way it has been for the last year around here,
11:26is my best friend Bubba's house, who has no last name, and I really can't describe where he lives.
11:31So, where have you been staying since you were released?
11:35I wish I knew an address.
11:36I'm not going to sit there and be a patsy and get run over top of.
11:39I don't want to run over.
11:40So, when I ask you a question, I want an answer to the question.
11:46Because right now, my decision is pushing a button on this phone and sending you back down there.
11:51Because good faith has a lot to do with everything, and you're not dealing in it.
11:56I'm not used to this.
11:59Wait a minute.
12:00Okay.
12:00Okay.
12:01There's one.
12:02There's two.
12:04There's three.
12:05So, all I'm asking you to do is give 100%.
12:07Not 110.
12:08A hundred, just like the rest of us do.
12:1216, 17, 18 pages of criminal history.
12:18All right.
12:18So, you are familiar with how this process works.
12:21But it's the ones that sit there and basically wave at you like this, but only use one finger.
12:27You're the one that caused the problem.
12:29Look in the mirror.
12:30I'm the one that's giving you the tools to work with it.
12:33But if you decide you want to go to jail, I'm not putting you there.
12:36You are.
12:36It's just my pen has to sign a piece of paper to make it all work in the legal process.
12:42What I have here is there are two citations that were issued by the Sydney Police Department
12:45that allege criminal possession of dangerous drugs initiated as a first offense.
12:49The oil money in the Bakken has led to a disturbing boom in the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics.
12:55In one year alone, methamphetamine seizures in a single county jumped 600%.
13:02Drugs and alcohol have been basically the main catalyst for everything that we do here.
13:07We'll have the felony thefts and all that, but it's drug-fueled because they've stolen to fuel the habit.
13:15People that started with marijuana, alcohol, progressed to meth, cocaine, heroin.
13:20We've seen that in about every drug in the world, but the bottom line of this is I've watched families torn apart, ruined.
13:27I've watched people's lives ruined.
13:29You can make a lot of money up here, but you don't want to spend it this way.
13:35You don't want to just wait and wait and wait and just kind of bury your head in the sand.
13:39I don't think it's going to take care of itself, because it won't.
13:41All right?
13:42You have a question?
13:43All right, good luck, man.
13:47Hello.
13:48Hello, it is me.
13:49How are you?
13:49I'm good.
13:50It looks like it's going to be a very rare Monday, and I'm going to get out of here on time.
13:54Sounds great.
13:55You want to have a glass of wine and watch the sprinklers?
13:57I'd love to.
13:57Oh, good.
13:58Okay.
13:58All right, see you then.
13:59Okay, bye.
14:00Bye.
14:00Bye.
14:09I don't clean this up.
14:16That's the dog's job.
14:18So we're going to wait until they get back, maybe.
14:22Six days a week, welder and family man Dan Dooley lives and works away from home.
14:28This Sunday, while his wife runs errands, Dooley's making up for lost time.
14:34Now you look like the insane clown posse, son.
14:36You know, on weekends, she takes care of us.
14:39She runs around, does errands during the day, and me and the boy hang out.
14:43So I can get all the girl training that Grandma and Mom and all the girlfriends have put on him.
14:53I can neutralize that.
14:56We watch Pulp Fiction, Top Gear, Westerns, you know, good standards, good morals.
15:06And I don't know, this is my first shot at fatherhood, so got to do it right.
15:11You know what I mean?
15:13My pride and joy.
15:16All right, Tom Petty, let's change the diaper.
15:18Dooley came to the Bakken four years ago looking for work.
15:21The last thing he expected to find in small-town Montana was a family of his own.
15:27My boy.
15:28Dad?
15:29Well, we met right here.
15:31I was the manager of the industrial part of the cleaners.
15:34He came in, and I saw him, and thought he was cute right away.
15:39And I'm, like, hungover, no makeup on, greasy hair.
15:44I'm so nervous, I can't even count him as change.
15:46And he's carrying his clothes out, and this old lady walks out and asks, we need your number
15:52in case we have an emergency for your clothes.
15:56Which there would be no emergency, because I had no clothes here anymore.
15:59So I write down my number, and I'm walking at him, and I turn around, I say, yeah, I think
16:03I just got hit on it.
16:05We're getting completely oblivious to it.
16:07And then he came back in and said, I need your number in case I have an emergency.
16:11He called me, he took me to lunch, and he said, I'll take you anywhere in the world
16:16you want to go.
16:17And then a couple weeks later, we were in London, and Paris, and Rome, and Jamaica, and
16:21New York City, and anywhere in the world I wanted to go.
16:26I asked her to marry me under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
16:30Obviously, I said yes.
16:32You can look at Hannah and look at me and think, why would she pick me?
16:36His personality, his confidence, he's funny, he's good looking.
16:40He's a great dad.
16:42You know, you know, oh.
16:50Oh, it's all right, baby boy.
16:53Let me see.
17:00How was the baby?
17:02Thanks for leaving me with spaghetti, by the way.
17:05And no dogs to clean up the mess.
17:08I appreciate that.
17:09Chino, come here.
17:11Chino.
17:11How about my hair?
17:12Your hair looks beautiful, baby.
17:14Come here.
17:14Come here.
17:20Tomorrow morning, Dooley will make the long drive back to Stanley, North Dakota.
17:26It'll be six more days of work until he sees his family again.
17:30It's part of doing business in the Bakken.
17:34You know, got to sacrifice to make money.
17:37So here we are.
17:38You fly into the Bakken at night and you can see these massive lights.
17:47You think you're flying into a major city, but yet this is a farming region.
17:51From space, the Bakken looks as bright as many major North American cities, despite having only a fraction of the population.
17:59The lights you see are not from people's houses, they're flares.
18:02They're natural gas burning at well sites.
18:05The environmental impacts of the fracking process are heavily debated, but flaring is the one thing that even oil companies see as harmful.
18:14This is the most visible failure of what we're doing in the Bakken so far.
18:18That's gas that's not being captured because we don't have a pipeline to all the 8,000 wells in the Bakken.
18:24The release of natural gas is a byproduct of the oil extraction process.
18:29If an oil company doesn't have the infrastructure to capture it, it has to be burned off, a practice that is harmful to both the environment and business.
18:38I mean, even today with Liberty and our operations, we're flaring, you know, over $10,000 worth of gas every day.
18:48That's crazy. We don't want to do that.
18:50To be able to sell this natural gas, we have to have a pipeline connected to every well.
18:55That infrastructure, that ability to connect all those wells, it has not kept apace with all the drilling.
19:00So today, Liberty Resources CEO Chris Wright is traveling to Tioga, North Dakota to inspect the progress his company's making to catch up to production.
19:11Liberty will solve that problem this year.
19:13We won't be flaring gas in any material level.
19:16We're building on the surface and trenching underground.
19:19This is to connect all of our wells so the gas can get to people's houses and power plants.
19:23We've got about 5 1⁄2 feet of frost here, so the ground is pretty much solid, frozen all the way down.
19:28We're going just below that frost line, so in case that gas flow stops, we don't freeze.
19:34Chris wants to make sure that Liberty is at the forefront of this environmental initiative.
19:38The $20 million project will significantly reduce the company's current carbon footprint.
19:44Come May, there will be no flares there.
19:48Flaring is a Bakken-wide problem that impacts the global image of the industry.
19:52In 2013, nearly 30% of all gas produced in the Bakken was flared away.
19:58By 2020, the goal is to reduce this number to 10%.
20:03Five, seven, eight years from now, when the infrastructure is fully built out, you know, you won't see a flare.
20:09But we're not there yet.
20:10Ben Moorhead has two sons, Titan and Falcon.
20:22Falcon is in first grade and has been at school all day.
20:26After battling the poor economy in Arizona, Ben moved his family to the Bakken a year and a half ago.
20:32The boom has provided full-time work for the Moorheads and enough disposable income to pay for a new Hummer.
20:40It's also given Ben time to explore a new side business.
20:44All right.
20:45You ready for the fun power slide?
20:47Yes.
20:47Here we go.
20:49Here we go.
20:50Whee!
20:52Yeehaw!
20:55I'm doing what I want to be doing in my life.
20:57It's about providing a healthy, happy, loving home for my family.
21:01Today, while wife Phoebe works, Ben is following up on an idea he had while driving his oil truck.
21:07It's an anti-theft device, and building an early prototype requires all hands on deck.
21:13Hey, which one of you guys is the strongest?
21:15Me.
21:16Titan.
21:16I need you to get my tool bag, will you?
21:18You think you can pull that heavy thing up here?
21:20The whole thing?
21:21Yeah.
21:22It's heavy, because he's a...
21:23Whoa, there's going to be happening.
21:26Oh, oh, oh, that was heavy.
21:29I don't need help.
21:30Never mind.
21:31Not moved.
21:32It's heavy.
21:35Oh!
21:36Oh!
21:38Oh!
21:38Oh!
21:42Are you okay?
21:43Are you good?
21:43Is everything good?
21:44All right, we're going to be tough again?
21:46Because you're strong, right?
21:48I've been a dreamer my whole life.
21:50My family, for some reason, doesn't aspire to be anything.
21:56I'm the only one with the entrepreneurial spirit.
21:59I'm the only one that's willing to go out and take a risk.
22:04My parents, they would say, you can be anything you put your mind to,
22:08but when I come up with an idea, they're like,
22:10well, if it's such a great idea, why isn't it already invented?
22:11Thanks a lot.
22:15What are you doing?
22:17I am putting this bolt in there.
22:20The oil boom has offered us the opportunity to be a better family unit,
22:25to chase a few dreams.
22:28So it's offered us a lot.
22:30Can I try?
22:31Sure.
22:31But the road from prototype to finished product is a long haul.
22:37What did you do with your invention?
22:39I didn't build it yet.
22:41If none of my ideas, if none of my dreams come true,
22:45I'll stay right where I am.
22:46I'm happy here.
22:48It's comfortable.
22:49But I would like to continue moving forward.
22:52I don't want to stagnate.
22:53As an oil production foreman,
23:07it's Scott Huff's job to make sure all the wells in his region
23:10are producing safely and to capacity.
23:12With over 15,000 barrels of oil on the line each day,
23:17there's a lot of income riding on Scott's ability to perform.
23:21It's a ton of pressure for just one man
23:23and a big change from Scott's first job in the Bakken.
23:27I actually moved to Fairview from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
23:31to help my dad with the grocery store in there.
23:34It was boring.
23:35And he didn't pay as much as the oil field.
23:37Like in all jobs, some days are harder than others.
23:43Hi, this is Scott.
23:45Everything ain't pumping.
23:46What do you mean it's not pumping?
23:46Everything ain't pumping, it won't start.
23:49Every minute the wells aren't producing,
23:52Scott's company loses money.
23:54Let's try your overloads.
23:56Yeah.
23:57Shut the power off and wait for about 30 seconds to 45 seconds
24:02and then turn it back on and see?
24:05I did that too.
24:06All right.
24:07I'll come over there.
24:08All right.
24:09All good, Scott.
24:10Okay.
24:11Bye.
24:11Yeah, bye.
24:13When we lose power, our well goes down,
24:16we lose production for the day.
24:18It has a big effect on our numbers, our daily barrels.
24:22But when they are down,
24:23we try to get them back as soon as possible.
24:25Unlike their younger, free-flowing counterparts,
24:28these wells must use electrically-powered pumps
24:31to extract their fluids from the ground.
24:33Trouble is, none of these jacks are pumping.
24:36Checking fuses on the power poles,
24:40everything looked good.
24:42Over the years,
24:43Scott's learned dozens of tricks
24:45to keep his wells going.
24:48After a few adjustments,
24:49he decides to give the first pump a try.
24:52This is a pumping unit,
24:59or a pump jack some people refer to it as.
25:04The purpose of this is to bring fluid up
25:07from downhole up to the surface
25:09and put it into our treaters.
25:12So electricity powers our motor,
25:14which is attached to a belt.
25:16That's the action of the rods.
25:18That's the pump going down.
25:19On the way down, it grabs the fluid.
25:22And when the horse set comes back up,
25:24you're pulling the fluid towards the surface.
25:28Joining Scott is John Harrod.
25:31He's a geological engineer
25:32that usually works out of Newfield's head offices.
25:35Double wrench it.
25:37I just don't want to cross the rim.
25:39Just getting your hands dirty
25:40is good every once in a while.
25:41It's tough to sit at a computer
25:43and participate from a distance.
25:45And so any chance we get to come out,
25:47learn from these guys,
25:48and also help out where we can
25:50is a great opportunity.
25:52It gives you a much better appreciation
25:54for what the guys are doing.
25:55It's 8 o'clock, it's raining,
25:57it's cold outside,
25:58and there's still work to be done.
26:03It looks like Scott's fixing something
26:05that I messed up,
26:06I think is what's going on there.
26:07Were those cross-threaded?
26:10He's not talking to me,
26:11so maybe he is fixing something
26:13that I messed up.
26:15Were they cross-threaded?
26:17No, they were just on the wrong...
26:19The wrong tube was on the wrong part.
26:21An engineer mistake,
26:23is what that is.
26:23It was an engineering mistake.
26:25Exactly.
26:26Look at it on paper.
26:28Scott has now been on the job
26:30for 13 hours,
26:31but there's still one last well
26:33to check before he can turn in.
26:40We should,
26:41about a mile and a half down the road,
26:43we should find the location
26:44that we abandoned
26:45about this time last year.
26:48So when we do that,
26:49our obligation is to
26:50completely plug the well
26:52to the state's standards.
26:53Once a well ceases production,
26:57Newfield has a strict policy
26:58of returning the land
27:00to its original state.
27:02Per our agreement
27:03with the landowner,
27:04we cut and capped the wellhead,
27:06plugged it below grade
27:07so it wouldn't be an issue
27:08with farm implements.
27:10You know,
27:10part of the requirement
27:11with our lease
27:12is that we put the land
27:13back to its original contour,
27:15and we work with the landowner
27:16to talk about
27:17how to cede the land,
27:18and the goal is not to
27:20not to have to find it.
27:20To be able to cede?
27:21Yeah.
27:22This looks pretty good.
27:24I can't even see the pad
27:25where the pad was.
27:26These things are taller
27:27than I am.
27:28I'm crying out loud.
27:29Do you remember
27:30where we parked?
27:31Put up a smoke signal
27:33so I didn't know
27:33which way we're going.
27:36It's two hours
27:37from here to Stanley,
27:38and it seems like
27:4020 hours at times,
27:41you know.
27:43After saying goodbye
27:44to his family,
27:45Dan Dooley and his welding crew
27:47have traveled back out of state
27:48for another long week of work.
27:51Being away from home
27:53and loved ones
27:53is often the steepest price
27:55paid by those seeking
27:56their fortunes
27:57from the boom.
27:58We're in Stanley, North Dakota
28:00at HLD's Stanley Extension.
28:03This is company housing.
28:04We're here six days a week,
28:06and then Sundays,
28:08me and John
28:09usually go back to Sydney, so.
28:11Him living in Stanley
28:12isn't the most ideal situation,
28:15but it's our only situation,
28:16and so we're just trying
28:17to make the best of it.
28:18You know, that's why
28:19we rented a house there.
28:20The wives miss us horribly,
28:23but, I mean,
28:24that's part of the business,
28:25you know what I mean?
28:26You got to go
28:26where the work's at,
28:27and right now,
28:28this is where all the work's at,
28:29so here we are.
28:30While they wait
28:31for the rest of the welders
28:32to arrive,
28:34Dooley and Ray Ray
28:34get started in the kitchen.
28:36We're cooking hamburgers,
28:38you know,
28:38a typical slop
28:40of a general male
28:42and vodka,
28:44so I mean,
28:44nothing too out of hand.
28:47You never know
28:48where burgers will take you.
28:50You got to get out
28:50the kitchen, bro.
28:51Yeah.
28:52You ain't doing nothing here.
28:54That's why that knife's
28:55so dull.
28:56Samurai shit right there,
28:58daddy-o.
28:59I've been waiting
28:59on him to cut his cell.
29:01Man.
29:02That's a big-ass slice
29:03to go on a hamburger.
29:06That's your wife.
29:08Back in Sydney,
29:09Hannah and the girls
29:10have dinner plans
29:11of their own.
29:15Hello, love.
29:16Guess what Cassie and I
29:18are making for dinner?
29:20Meat holes inside
29:21of a zucchini.
29:22Oh, you mother-
29:23You're doing that
29:24without me?
29:25I picked that zucchini out.
29:27She took it
29:27and she carved it out
29:29and done like a meat deal
29:30and then put it together
29:31and then-
29:32That's some bull
29:33is what that is.
29:34You're welcome.
29:35Hey, when's the last time
29:37you had that red button
29:38happen to you?
29:40No, you didn't.
29:41Did you?
29:41I did.
29:42Ah, you in so much trouble.
29:48Hey, hey, hey.
29:50I will be doing
29:51the hanging off
29:52from now on.
29:53Oh, yeah.
29:57Young up on you?
29:58Yeah, she is.
30:01What the f***er?
30:01She's cooking that f***ing zucchini.
30:03I got f***ed out of that deal.
30:05I picked the zucchini out,
30:07the guy gives me the recipe
30:08and she's cooking it
30:09without me.
30:10Welcome to
30:11being away from home.
30:20Over 20 minutes
30:21have passed
30:22since Dooley's wife
30:23Hannah hung up on him.
30:24In that time,
30:25the rest of the welders
30:26have shown up for dinner.
30:28I had about $30 of water
30:30in my pocket.
30:31What's up, sweetie?
30:34Hi, why didn't you
30:35call me Doc?
30:37I didn't want to get
30:37hung up on again.
30:40What are you supposed to do
30:41when I hung up on you?
30:42Well, I was explaining
30:44to John why I was so upset
30:46about the zucchini.
30:47Well, I'm sorry.
30:48Well, but you probably
30:49got to cook it
30:50before it goes bad,
30:50so I understand, baby.
30:52Yeah.
30:53Love you.
30:54Love you, too.
30:55Bye.
30:56Bye.
30:58Working away
30:58from families
30:59and loved ones
31:00is a cross
31:00many Bakken workers
31:01have to bear.
31:03But the welders
31:04at HLV
31:05have their own philosophy
31:06that helps them
31:07cope with
31:07and even embrace
31:08their unique lifestyle.
31:10Let's work hard,
31:11play hard.
31:12If you're going to go get it,
31:13you might as well
31:14be able to enjoy it.
31:15Said it a thousand times
31:16before,
31:17all working on play
31:18makes Jack a very,
31:19very, very...
31:20I don't know this Jack,
31:21fella.
31:22Good luck
31:22to be a lady
31:24tonight.
31:29At just 23 years of age,
31:34Officer Alex Rosellas
31:35is Sydney, Montana's
31:37first canine handler
31:38in over 30 years.
31:40Zero is his partner
31:41in law enforcement.
31:43He's a dual-purpose
31:44narcotics and patrol dog
31:45trained to locate
31:46and indicate
31:46to the presence
31:47of marijuana,
31:48cocaine,
31:48methamphetamines,
31:49and heroin.
31:50He also does
31:52patrol functions,
31:53which includes
31:53building searching,
31:54criminal apprehension,
31:55tracking,
31:56article searches.
31:58He's a very useful tool
31:59and very loyal to me.
32:01He loves me to death
32:03and I love him back.
32:05We haven't had
32:05a major drug bust
32:06or anything like that
32:07and he has yet
32:08to have a use of force
32:09under his belt.
32:11We'll take it
32:11when it comes to us.
32:12You know,
32:12we're actively pursuing it,
32:14but sometimes
32:15it just doesn't happen
32:15the way you want it to,
32:16you know?
32:17Suddenly,
32:18a call for backup.
32:19There's a bar fight
32:21in progress
32:21at a local pub.
32:23Officer Rosellis responds.
32:27Hold on a second.
32:29One of the suspects
32:30has fled the scene
32:31on foot.
32:32South,
32:32without a shirt.
32:33Hop in.
32:35Alex heads off
32:36in pursuit.
32:39They're coming right.
32:40A firm southbound
32:41without a shirt.
32:45Attempting to locate
32:46a male without a shirt on,
32:47there was a bar fight.
32:49Sounds like the guy
32:50that assaulted
32:50one of the other officers.
32:52So this just goes back
32:53to exactly
32:54what we were talking
32:55about earlier
32:56about the assaults
32:57on officers.
32:58One just occurred tonight.
32:59Did you all see
33:00a guy without a shirt
33:01run by?
33:03Okay.
33:04But the suspect
33:04has disappeared
33:06somewhere in the
33:07Sydney streets.
33:09I'll be back
33:09out at the ranger.
33:10Alex heads back
33:13to the bar
33:13to help collect
33:14statements.
33:15Being in a small town
33:16like this,
33:17you deal with a lot
33:18of people that you know
33:18and they all expect breaks.
33:20Do you remember
33:20which one was trying
33:21to break it up?
33:22Yeah, it was Randy.
33:24What are you doing?
33:24I'm going to write a statement
33:25about the guy running
33:26in the white shirt.
33:27And they all expect
33:28just because you know him
33:29that you're going
33:30to treat him differently
33:30and that's not the case.
33:33Alex, I know him.
33:34You do know me.
33:35How's married life?
33:35Hey, how's your kid
33:36in unit?
33:37Do you have to do it?
33:38Yeah.
33:38He's in the car.
33:39Yep, he's in the car.
33:39Can we see him?
33:40In a bit.
33:41Just stay back for me,
33:42okay?
33:42I don't want him to get,
33:43I don't want him to get mad.
33:45So this is the puppy dog.
33:47You need to come over
33:48and just see him.
33:49Hey, boy.
33:50All right.
33:52He's almost two.
33:53I think it's been
33:53a successful shift tonight.
33:55You guys have a good night,
33:56okay?
33:56Thanks, Alex.
33:57Yep.
33:59Alex?
33:59Hey.
34:00What are you doing?
34:01Driving.
34:07Sandy Beagle Angel
34:08is a lifelong resident
34:10of Sydney, Montana.
34:12Oh, here we are.
34:13When the boom came to town,
34:15Sandy's world
34:16was transformed forever.
34:19I never go out.
34:21Never, never, never go outside
34:22without putting a gun on.
34:23Ever, ever, ever.
34:25And locking one of the doors.
34:27Yeah.
34:28Today, Sandy will be
34:30shooting blanks
34:31as she continues
34:32her firearms training.
34:34Good morning, Sandy.
34:35Good morning.
34:35You up for some more
34:36training today?
34:37I am.
34:38We can go down there
34:39and will you be
34:39shooting the revolver again?
34:41Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.
34:42Okay.
34:4245.
34:43All right.
34:43Before the boom,
34:45I didn't lock my house.
34:47I didn't lock my vehicle.
34:48I felt secure and safe
34:51in my own little hometown.
34:53And then at the south end
34:56of my block
34:57is where our teacher,
35:00Sherry Arnold,
35:00was jogging
35:01and was killed.
35:04After that,
35:05everybody felt the fear
35:07and I felt myself
35:08living in the house,
35:09afraid to go out
35:10until finally I decided
35:12I've got to take
35:12my life back again.
35:14And I went for
35:15tactical maneuvers training.
35:17I got my permit
35:18so I can carry.
35:19Yeah, I never would have
35:20lived this way before.
35:21Ever, ever, ever.
35:22So now you've walked
35:23up to your home,
35:24okay, in this scenario
35:25and the door is wide open.
35:26Okay, okay.
35:27So you need to make sure
35:28you're prepared.
35:28You're making audible
35:30announcements of who you are,
35:31that you are here,
35:32that you have a weapon.
35:34Is anybody in here?
35:36I have a weapon.
35:37You need to show yourself
35:38if you're in here.
35:38Show yourself.
35:39Okay, see the shadows there?
35:40No.
35:41Oh, boy, I'm dead.
35:44Okay, that's okay.
35:46At home,
35:47that's all I have is me
35:48and that would be
35:49a scenario that could happen.
35:50That could happen to me.
35:52Communication is very,
35:53very important.
35:54Okay, okay.
35:54All right, here we go.
35:55We're going to do it again.
35:55Okay.
35:56Who are you?
35:57I'm the homeowner.
35:58What do you want?
35:59I want you out.
36:00Now.
36:01Get out.
36:02You get out.
36:05You're dead.
36:06Always have your weapon
36:06reloaded immediately, okay?
36:08Yeah, Lord forbid
36:09that I ever, you know,
36:10ever shoot someone.
36:11All right.
36:11Okay.
36:12Okay.
36:12You want to do it again?
36:13So, I'll-
36:14Yeah.
36:18Stop.
36:19I have a weapon.
36:21I will use it.
36:21What do you want?
36:25Reload?
36:28My heart's still pumping,
36:30though.
36:30This is so much fun.
36:31Good deal.
36:32I mean,
36:32we shouldn't say fun,
36:33but yeah, yeah.
36:35Now, what is a parking lot robber?
36:38Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
36:40I'm not playing.
36:40Give me your keys.
36:42I have a gun.
36:42I'll use it.
36:43Back off.
36:44Do I look at-
36:46Give me those keys now.
36:47No, you stop right there.
36:49Give me those keys.
36:50That was much better.
36:53I'm alive on that one.
36:54Okay, good job.
36:56I feel safer with my gun.
36:58Hopefully, with the training
36:59that I get here,
37:00I will be able to ask
37:01the right questions
37:02because you never want
37:03to shoot somebody
37:04if they're reaching
37:04for a cell phone
37:05or a bag of booze
37:08or something.
37:08I don't want to kill somebody,
37:10but it's better
37:12to be tried by 12
37:13than carried by 6.
37:18Yeah.
37:18Truck driver Ben Moorhead
37:26has an idea
37:27for a security device
37:28for semi-trailer trucks.
37:30It involves a stick shift
37:31that folds away
37:32into a lockable box.
37:35Ben has spent his day off
37:36making a prototype
37:37so that he can get
37:38his invention patented.
37:40Ben's wife, Phoebe,
37:41has been at work all day
37:42at the Sydney Courthouse.
37:43She loves me
37:44and she believes in me
37:45and she has no problem
37:47telling me
37:48that one of my ideas
37:49sucks.
37:52So, when she does support me,
37:54I know that it's genuine.
37:58Hello.
37:59What's up, baby?
38:00Right there.
38:00That's it.
38:02Tell you what,
38:03then mama's sitting there
38:04in a copilot seat with you.
38:05When I got home,
38:06I saw Ben's
38:08very rough
38:09invention.
38:12Remember when you were
38:13in a truck with me?
38:14Yeah.
38:15Just cruising along.
38:18You hungry?
38:20Yeah.
38:25She's locked away.
38:27But I thought
38:28you were going to build
38:28like the locking part.
38:30Isn't that what
38:30this is all about?
38:32No, this is what
38:33it's all about.
38:34The locking part is
38:35the best sighting.
38:37Details, really.
38:38You went to the hardware store
38:40to get a stick shift.
38:41I need something
38:42to show them.
38:43I need a box
38:44that will lock like this.
38:45And then when I hit here,
38:47you'll have the bars
38:47that go through
38:48and it would take you
38:49a lifetime
38:50to break into that.
38:53Okay.
38:54The conflict happens
38:55with him and I
38:56when he thinks
38:57I don't believe in him.
38:59That's when
39:00we start arguing.
39:03What was the purpose
39:04of this?
39:04To show the next person
39:06who actually builds it?
39:07No, just to piss you off.
39:08That's the only reason
39:09I did it.
39:10Just to make you
39:11ask me questions.
39:12He thinks that
39:13because I'm not excited
39:14about a little invention
39:16that that means
39:17I don't support him
39:18which isn't true.
39:19I thought you would
39:19have gotten more done.
39:21That's all.
39:22This is what I needed
39:23to get done.
39:24To do it for what?
39:25For what purpose?
39:26For demonstration purposes.
39:27Just demonstrating to me
39:28or demonstrating
39:29to the patent application people
39:31because anybody
39:32can do this.
39:33Phoebe once worked
39:35at a fabricating shop
39:36that designs and builds
39:37parts for the oil industry
39:38so she knows
39:40what it takes
39:40to get an idea
39:41off the ground.
39:42You have to patent
39:43something that exists.
39:45Didn't I say
39:46I'm going to take this
39:46to somebody
39:47that can build a prototype?
39:48Yeah.
39:48I think you need to call
39:49Greg Alnquist on Monday
39:51and ask him how much
39:52he wants to charge you
39:53and then we look
39:53at our budget
39:54and figure that out then
39:55but you need to start
39:56with a phone call
39:56which you don't like to do.
39:58I could call him.
39:59Right now
40:02our lives are fantastic.
40:05Better than they've ever been
40:06but one thing
40:08we can both agree on
40:09is we're not going
40:09to be an average family.
40:11We don't want to be
40:11mediocre people
40:13with mediocre lives
40:14living paycheck to paycheck.
40:25A month ago
40:27Tony Miller
40:27was on the verge
40:28of buying a brand new house
40:30in a Williston
40:30North Dakota subdivision
40:32but instead of becoming
40:34a homeowner
40:35or continuing to rent
40:37Tony's settling
40:38for a somewhat simpler option
40:40a fifth wheel motor home.
40:43I chose the fifth wheel
40:44because it was my best option
40:46at the time.
40:47You're still a thousand bucks
40:48a bedroom up here
40:49or close to it.
40:50It's about the smallest bedroom
40:51I've ever seen in my life.
40:53There's some four bedrooms
40:54I know that were three grand.
40:57I don't need a four bedroom
40:59and I don't need to pay three grand.
41:00I'd much rather just live by myself
41:03and stay away from anybody else.
41:0635 years old
41:07I don't want roommates
41:07not in college.
41:10I'm going to stay here
41:10for a couple months
41:11and hopefully
41:12I can find another place
41:13that's got everything
41:14that I need for the winter.
41:15But with the North Dakota winter
41:17fast approaching
41:18Tony's not taking any chances.
41:21He's spending the day
41:22insulating his new home.
41:25If you don't keep heat
41:26underneath these campers
41:27and 40 below
41:28your sewer line will freeze
41:29your water line will freeze
41:31you'll bust all your lines.
41:33So I have never lived
41:34in a camper all winter long
41:36so this will be a first.
41:39Tony came to the Bakken
41:41three years ago
41:42looking for a better life.
41:43Though he makes a comfortable
41:45six figure salary
41:46as a well inspector
41:47not everything is going as planned.
41:52I don't want to be
41:5380 to 100 hours a week
41:55for the rest of my life at all.
41:56Eventually I do want to
41:58be able to get off work
41:59at 5 o'clock
42:00to go home with my wife and kids
42:01grandkids
42:03or whatever's going on
42:04at that point in my life.
42:05Recently when a former girlfriend
42:07came to visit
42:08Tony had hopes
42:09of a rekindled romance.
42:11I was extremely happy
42:14to hear from Ashley.
42:15I have to go home with him.
42:16No thank you.
42:17But you can't
42:17just assume that things
42:19are going to go back
42:19to what they were.
42:21I'm not allowing anybody
42:22to become friends with me
42:23at the bar
42:25for any reason.
42:26That sounds like
42:26a really f***ing lonely life.
42:27It is a lonely life.
42:28It's horrible.
42:30While financial gain
42:31comes easy in the boom
42:33planning a future
42:34does not.
42:35She understands that
42:37I'm up here to make money.
42:38This is a career.
42:39I'm not in my 20s anymore.
42:41The guys that are
42:42in their 60s and 70s
42:43that are still working
42:4470, 80 hours a week
42:46do they look happy
42:47at work?
42:48Generally not.
42:50Maybe you didn't succeed
42:51far enough.
42:52I don't know.
42:53But no I don't want
42:54to be 60 working
42:55f***ing 70 hours a week.
42:57Retire young would be great.
42:58That's the dream.
42:59You know what I mean?
43:00And if that dream comes true
43:01then so be it.
43:03But it doesn't always
43:05work out like that.
43:16Kind of a family get together,
43:19company get together.
43:20It's important because
43:20we're all close.
43:21And being close together,
43:23you know this kind of stuff
43:24keeps us close together.
43:25That's why it's important.
43:26We're having a pile of!
43:28HLD boss Hannah Dooley
43:30is throwing a party
43:31for her employees.
43:33At this company,
43:34team building and family time
43:35are one and the same.
43:37Tonight, it's BYOG.
43:40Bring your own guns.
43:47This is mine
43:48and Hannah's family.
43:49It's our business.
43:50And all the employees
43:51that we have
43:52are basically not from here.
43:55So we want them to feel like
43:57you're not just here for a job.
43:58With a business requiring
43:59non-stop high-stress work,
44:02this is just one of the many ways
44:03the HLD family
44:05has learned to blow off steam.
44:08Is it the business model
44:09that most people will project?
44:11Probably not.
44:12But, I mean,
44:14it's a model that works
44:16for everybody
44:16that's employed
44:18by me and Hannah.
44:19So, yeah,
44:21I think we're doing it right.
44:22It's the shot of the year.
44:27It's somewhere in there.
44:29Oh, my gosh.
44:30Is this it?
44:31It's it.
44:31The normal round
44:32with the 50.
44:33I got Dooley
44:35the 50 caliber
44:36for Christmas.
44:38Finally,
44:38we acquired shells
44:40for it in Minot.
44:41And they're $6 a shot.
44:44When you shoot this thing,
44:45you better not mess.
44:46Before you shoot,
44:47I'll put these on him.
44:49It's not much later.
44:49Okay, because I'm just,
44:50the baby's over there.
44:52Okay.
44:53All right, we're ready.
44:54Better.
44:54Oh, my gosh.
44:59It's a big hole, huh?
45:03Does it kick hard?
45:05Huh?
45:05Does it?
45:07Mother loud.
45:08It's probably too loud
45:09for you, baby.
45:10I'm going to shoot it,
45:10but I need earphones.
45:12There's nothing sexier
45:13than a woman
45:13with a loaded gun.
45:15Hold it like that, baby.
45:16You're hot.
45:17I'm terrified.
45:18Don't, hey, babe,
45:20don't be scared of it.
45:21It ain't going to eat you.
45:28It didn't go in there.
45:29It's right here.
45:31You pulled through.
45:33Good job.
45:35Good job, sweet pea.
45:36awesome.
45:38It whooped my ass,
45:39but it was a good purchase.
45:41I did a little fumble,
45:42but it didn't,
45:44it never came out of my grip,
45:45but it almost came out of my grip.
45:46But it was good.
45:51We take care of,
45:52you know,
45:52your family,
45:53cookouts,
45:54dinners,
45:55and with all of that
45:56comes good times.
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