Time is of the essence when oil field accidents occur, which is why it's essential to have cleanup crews nearby so hazardous chemicals don't have time to seep into the ground.
United States Environmental Services, a company new to the Bakken, handles everything from routine cleaning of rigs to emergencies like spills and fires. The company has a shop in Dickinson and will soon be expanding into the Watford City/Williston area.
"Us coming to Dickinson is just like anybody else right now coming out to western North Dakota," said Mark Wagner, vice president for the north central and Bakken regions. "It's because of the oil."
USES has been based in the Gulf of Mexico since 1996, and has a wealth of experience with maritime cleanup, especially with the Gulf oil spill in 2010 caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
"Most of our technicians and supervisors and operations managers worked on the Gulf oil spill," said Edward Marrone, environmental solutions territory manager. "If there were ever a spill on water here, on Lake Sakakawea or on one of the rivers, we'd probably be the organization with the most experience."
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Lake Sakakawea is the source of drinking water for many western North Dakota communities.
"We can do business with every phase of the (oil recovery) process," Marrone said.
When cleaning up fluids, USES uses roll-off boxes to remove the liquid from the site, making the cleanup effort smoother.
"We end up using about half the trucks," Marrone said. "That means there's less truck traffic on the road, less chance of accidents, less chance of spills."
The shop is based in Dickinson, but the company will create base camps as necessary
"We want to be able to get out there in a reasonable time frame," Wagner said. "So, as those contracts grow, we will look to locate additional resources closer to areas of our clients."
The company isn't limited to oil field cleaning, and works in all industrial settings.
"We perform a lot of different functions," Marrone said. "Both oil field specific and non-oil field services, industrial services, maritime services and just general safety training for industry."
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USES is located at 4490 Sims St. in north Dickinson, in the old Wyoming Casing building. Call Marrone at 701-630-3316.
