Local Officials Don’t See Drilling Boom Crime Wave

Wheeling Intelligencer
27 October 2011
By Joselyn King, Political Writer
With AP Dispatches

WHEELING - Marshall County Sheriff John Gruzinskas said the natural gas boom and its out-of-state workers are not causing a measurable spike in crime in his area, but he does wish drilling truck drivers would be more considerate of other motorists on the road.

In a modern-day echo of the raucous Old West, many small towns enjoying a boom in oil and gas drilling are seeing a sharp increase in drunken driving, bar fights and other hell-raising, blamed largely on an influx of young men who find themselves with lots of money in their pockets and nothing to do after they get off work. Authorities in Pennsylvania and other states are quick to point out, though, that the majority of workers streaming in are law-abiding. But they also say the drilling industry has brought with it a hard-working, hard-drinking, rough-and-tumble element that, in some places, threatens to overwhelm law enforcement.

But that's not the case locally, according to officials. A bigger problem stemming from the natural gas boom in the Ohio Valley is the number of gas industry trucks on streets and highways, according to Gruzinskas.

"There's damage to roadways, and people are being run off the roads," Gruzinskas said. "I understand there are growing pains with any industry, but they (drilling trucks) have to be able to share the roads with people. I would like to see more courtesy. Ultimately, they are going to bring a lot of money to the county."

Gruzinskas said there has been "a little bit of a spike" in Marshall County crime since the beginning of the natural gas boom. He noted the county has seen an increase in property crimes and burglaries.

"We have contract workers here from everywhere - for both power plants and drilling," he said. "What we are seeing is what I would call 'opportunistic crimes,' and we warn people about these - that if they leave their chain saw out, it could be stolen."

Wheeling Police Chief Robert Matheny acknowledged there is "more possibility for crime" when an influx of people move into an area. Still, he doesn't believe out-of-state drillers have caused an increase in crime in the Friendly City.

"If there is, it's not significant," Matheny said. "I haven't noticed it."

Belmont County Commissioner Matt Coffland said his county is just getting started in the drilling business, and he has yet to hear any concerns about out-of-state drillers coming to the area.

Police departments elsewhere in the country are experiencing more problems with crime that they attribute to out-of-state drillers. They are seeking to hire more officers but often are hard-pressed to compete with the industry for applicants.

In Bradford County, Pennsylvania's most heavily drilled area in the 3-year-old rush to tap the Marcellus Shale, the stream of men from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and elsewhere has been accompanied by increases in arrests, traffic violations, protection-from-abuse orders and warrants issued for people who don't show up in court, law enforcement officials said.

"We definitely do drink a lot. I ain't going to lie," said Jordon Bourque, a 23-year-old pipe inspector from Lafayette, La., who was drinking beer at a bar in the Williamsport, Pa., area one recent night.

But he said that many in the industry obey the law and that authorities in Pennsylvania have less tolerance for troublemakers than police in small-town Texas, where rig workers are used to raising hell and getting a pass from law enforcement.

The hours are long. Some employees put in two weeks on, two weeks off. But entry-level laborers or truck drivers can make $40,000 or more, while workers on the drilling rigs can easily pull down twice that. Their employers often pick up the tab for hotels, meals and practically everything else.

In Bradford County, Pa., DUI arrests by state troopers are on track to rise 40 percent this year after climbing 60 percent last year, District Attorney Dan Barrett said. The number of sentences handed out for criminal offenses was up 35 percent in 2010, he said.

Doctors are treating more patients for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease, in some of the biggest oil-producing counties in western North Dakota - 237 cases in 2010 compared with 145 in 2008 - although the state's disease-control chief, Kirby Kruger, said that it is difficult to call three years of data a real trend.