EARTH: Bakken Boom and the New Wild West

Alexandria, VA — Diesel-soaked clothing, 90-hour work weeks, and the constant groaning of a multimillion-dollar oil rig towering overhead: Welcome to life in Williston, N.D., home of the United States’ latest oil boom.

In this month’s issue of EARTH Magazine, R. Tyler Powers, a young geologist thrust into the middle of the new boomtown, offers his perspective on what life is like today in the new Wild West.

Thousands of oil rigs sit atop the Bakken Formation, a Late Devonian to Early Mississippian rock formation that underlies parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Bakken Formation contains anywhere from 3 billion to 4.3 billion (or possibly much more) barrels of recoverable oil worth hundreds of billions of dollars. But with big rewards come big sacrifices,

and life in Williston “man-camps” comes with its ups and downs. Think you can rough it? Read the full story here.

Make sure to check out the other great stories in the October issue of EARTH! Find out how insurance agencies are dealing with natural disasters; learn why giant prehistoric insects couldn’t compete with birds; and see why Arctic humidity is on the rise.