Calvin Coey, project manager for NPN, while initially downplaying the need for any type of temporary modular housing, saying there will be locally skilled workers and sufficient housing in surrounding communities, now says there will be a need for workforce housing but it will be small. Initial estimates were for a 500-person, $70 million workforce camp for one year, a plan NPN rejected.
Grand Forks City Council member Bret Weber, a social work professor at University of North Dakota (UND), says it’s not accurate to pin increased crime on man camps alone; it is more likely due to the rapid influx of people moving to the oil boom area, creating a certain amount of instability.
He says while modular housing may be the same, the people coming to build the facility are workers with specific skills, and the downsides are more likely to be increased traffic and a possible rise in housing prices. Although the facility will only employ 150 people once it is up and running, he hopes developers will build permanent housing in advance of the construction. He adds nitrogen fertilizer plants have an economic effect of creating seven to ten new jobs for every position at the plant. ##
(Photo credit: Associated Press–modular man camp, Williston, North Dakota)
