SCHMID: LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST - NOVEMBER 3, 2014
CALIFORNIA REFINERIES are eager to process ND crude oil, but have difficulty getting permits to bring Bakken crude in by rail. California environmentalists dislike oil in any form, but especially if it is delivered by rail. Refiners are looping around California rail delivery by routing oil through ports in the Pacific Northwest from whence it is delivered to California refineries by barge. In the first half of the year, barge deliveries of ND crude to California exceeded deliveries by rail. Larger barges are being built.
DISTURBINGLY VAGUE With considerable fanfare, ND Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Badlands NGL CEO Bill Gilliam announced plans for a $4 billion petrochemical plant somewhere in ND. Later, Gilliam was interviewed about the project by Adam Belz at the Minneapolis StarTribune. While Gilliam’s answer to any single question was not alarming, the sum of his responses seemed unusually vague for a project of this magnitude.
TRUST ME Gilliam was asked about his background (“I’ve done business all over the world”), availability of ethane (there are plants that have the capability), who will provide the pipeline (“there are signifiant incentives that will be available to folks that jump on the bandwagon very quickly”), availability of debt financing (“I’m not going to get into a lot of detail”) and equity financing (“It is not something that’s seriously making us spend a lot of time or wring our hands or anything”). Amber lights should be blinking -- fundamentals of the type Gilliam glazed over are usually worked out before a project is publicly announced.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER IS DIFFERENT Northland Community & Technical College has campuses in E. Grand Forks and two other Minnesota cities. The school’s president reports that NCTC has seen nearly a 50% reduction in state funding over the last decade. She announced further layoffs this week. On the other side of the Red River, ND campuses have received increased state funding and are expanding and modernizing their facilities.
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL The Tax Foundation ranks ND's business tax climate #25 in the nation. Neighbors Wyoming (#1), South Dakota (#2) and Montana (#6) do much better; to the dismay of cities bordering ND, Minnesota ranks #47.
OLE AND LENA’S PIZZERIA started in Minnesota, but expansion is all in ND. Their pizzas have stomach-turning toppings -- consider garlic mashed potatoes. For a firsthand experience try West Fargo.
THE METAL ARTS FOUNDRY in Mandan had 40 employees at one time. The firm made metal plaques and lettering for all types of organizations. The 440-pound Great Seal of ND is one of their proudest accomplishments. Metal Arts is quitting -- their problem in a word is “plastics.”
MARILYN HUDSON IS A HISTORIAN for the Three Affiliated Tribes at Ft. Berthold. She believes the current election for tribal chairman is one of the most important in the history of the tribe, if not the most important. She says the next chairman has a “lonely, lonely road to try to get us back” from the embarrassing legacy of current chairman Tex Hall, who was voted out in the primary after being tied to shady oil field deals. Hudson believes the current candidates have “the right stuff” to be good leaders. She considers both to be “homeboys” who are also intelligent, educated lawyers.
WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAY Candidates Mark Fox (52) and Damon Williams (45) are each critical of Hall. Bismarck Tribune writer Lauren Donovano provides some of the best coverage of the TAT, she says, “Needless to say, Hall has not endorsed Williams, or Fox.” Fox believes “centralization of power lends itself to abuse” -- he is a proponent of sweeping constitutional change. He also fears the extent of dysfunctional families at Ft. Berthold is getting worse because of drug and alcohol addictions.
WILLIAMS IS TRIBAL ATTORNEY and says he has had regular conflict with Tex Hall, who marked his most recent four-year term by enriching his own oil service company. Williams says tribal business needs to be brought into the light and removed from a shroud of secrecy. He also believes power is too concentrated, leaving the potential for corruption and mismanagement. Williams says drugs “are destroying the tribe from the inside out.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY David Gipp has been president of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck for 37 years. UTTC is an intertribal technical college whose board president is Tex Hall, controversial outgoing chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The board is made up of elected representatives from five ND tribes. Gipp will be succeeded by “Russ” McDonald, a former UND faculty member and former chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe at Devils Lake. McDonald has a doctorate in education.
BYPASSES Officials celebrated the opening of two truck bypasses in Watford City ($131 million) and one in Alexander ($28 million). Bypasses are underway in Dickinson, New Town and Williston.
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