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.