A place for animals

Trinity edges Shiloh

State Ave Vet Clinic settles into

16-acre complex / Progress

Titans win third-place game at

Class B state tournament / B1

THE DICKINSON PRESS

Sunday, March 20, 2016

www.thedickinsonpress.com

30 Pages $1.75

Senseless exposures
Money and outdated rules endanger oil
workers exposed to hydrocarbon vapors
By Emily Guerin

ing had died from inhaling a gas

called hydrogen sulfide, a known oilfield killer that can be deadly within
minutes. But an autopsy revealed
Bergsing didnt have that in his system.
Instead, his blood contained
hydrocarbons like benzene, ethane
and butane the same compounds
that are in natural gas. At that point,
few people had heard of oil workers
dying, out in the open, from inhaling petroleum gases. But because
Bergsings case caught the eye of an
investigative reporter who teamed
up with a doctor, four years later oil-

Inside Energy, Special to The Press

Dustin Bergsing was young and fit,

a bull rider from Montana. On a cold
night in January 2012, he climbed to
the catwalk on top of a 20-foot tall
crude oil storage tank on a well pad
in North Dakotas Bakken field. His
job was to pop open the small hatch
on top and drop a rope inside to
measure the level of oil.
Just after midnight, a co-worker
Photo by Emily Guerin / Special to The Press
found
him dead, slumped on the
Truck driver Ryan Ehlis checks his tires before heading out for a
night of hauling crude oil around the Bakken oilfield. Ehlis says being catwalk.
exposed to petroleum gas is an unavoidable part of his job.
At first, people suspected Bergs-

field hydrocarbon vapor poisoning is

a known occupational hazard.
Despite this, thousands of workers
are still being exposed every day as
a routine part of their jobs because
outdated federal regulations make it
difficult to use new technology that
could get workers off of tanks.
When the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration investigated
Bergsings death, the agency closed
the case because Bergsing didnt
have any of the known killer
hydrogen sulfide in his body.
A citation could not be supported for work-related exposure, the
agency reported, declining to fine
Bergsings employer.

EXPOSURES/A7

Ever a watchful eye

Press Photo by Andrew Wernette

Mark Nygard stands outside The

Press office in November. Nygard
has extensive missionary history in
different parts of Africa.

Spreading
the word
far and wide
Bowman pastor, son recall life
of missionary work in Africa
By Andrew Wernette
awernette@thedickinsonpress.com
Reuters Photo

Handful of ND law enforcement agencies turning to body

By Andrew Wernette

upgrade its cameras because of their reduced

lifespan and lack of ruggedness.
He said the use of dashboard cameras in
vehicles had proven very useful in the profession for matters, such as evidence collection
and protecting against false claims of misconduct.
From that, Collins said he believes body
cameras follow progression with the advancement of technologies that continues to help
meet our goals to provide the communities the
best service.
His agency is in the minority, so far, when it
comes to the gadgets use in the state.
West Fargo Police Chief Mike Reitan, who is
also the president of the North Dakota Peace

awernette@thedickinsonpress.com

Though still a relatively scarce practice in

North Dakota, a handful of law enforcement
agencies have turned to the use of body cameras on their officers as a means of recording
daily tasks.
The cameras come in different makes, but
are essentially gadgets that clip on the front
of a uniform or vest and record when needed.
The most local example is the Adams County Sheriffs Office, which last year approached
the county commission for funds to update
their models.
Travis Collins, the Adams County Sheriff,
stated in an email that his office decided to

Todays Weather
High

Low

51

22

Winner of
the 2014
NDNA
General
Excellence
Award.

Classifieds ............................B4-B7
North Dakota ............................. A4
Local ......................................... A3
Obituaries .................................. A5
Opinion ...................................... A6
Region ....................................... A7
Sports ...................................B1-B3

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CAMERAS/A7

PASTOR/A2

Bakken Resister lends voice to landowners

South Carolina native moves to ND to
try and help those impacted by oil boom
By Amy Dalrymple
Forum News Service

Page Index

Officers Association, said the only other law

enforcement agencies he knows of using body
cameras are the Devils Lake Police Department and the Grand Forks Police Department,
the latter of which implemented them at the
beginning of this year.
Public information officers for both the Dickinson Police Department and the Stark County
Sheriffs Office said their agencies dont use
body cameras.
Dickinson Police Capt. Dave Wilkie said his
agency has had discussions about them in the
past.
However, Wilkie said the departments tactical team uses them on tasks.

When his airplane landed in Cameroon

in 1981, Rev. Mark Nygard said he was
intrigued by the perceived wildness
of the country, but also uneasy over the
possibility of disease and the unknown.
There was a sense of no return when
that door opened, said the Bowman
pastor.
Nygard served in Cameroon as a missionary with his family for 12 years,
during which time he said they and others in their group maintained remarkably good health. They then went on
two more callings in Africa over the next
two decades, during which they experienced many different faces, cultures and
ways of thinking.
Now, as the pastor of Bowman Lutheran Church, the Minot area native said
his overseas missionary work is done.

STANLEY The oil

industry brought Kathryn
Hilton to North Dakota, but
for a different reason than
most people.
The South Carolina
native calls herself the
Bakken Resister, and she
moved to North Dakota to
help landowners affected
by oil and gas development.
Hilton, 27, was working
with residents dealing with
gas development in the
Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania when she started
to hear about impacts from
oil development in North
Dakota.

There werent many

groups who were providing
on-the-ground assistance
for people who had had
their lives turned upside
down from this industry
that came in, Hilton said.
I felt this would be a good
place for me to come and
offer what skills I have.
Hilton, who has now
lived in North Dakota for
more than 1 years, started out working for the
Dakota Resource Council.
She has since left the nonprofit to work independently as a volunteer community organizer.
Recently, Hilton has

RESISTER/A7

FNS Photo by Amy Dalrymple

Kathryn Hilton, pictured Feb. 2 near Stanley, calls herself

the Bakken Resister and is working to help North Dakota
residents on impacts related to oil and gas development.

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