North Dakota's oil boom

North Dakota is currently in the midst of an oil boom that could make the area one of the largest sources of petroleum in the United States. Small towns have seen an unimaginable influx of people from across the country searching for high-paying jobs on oil rigs.

Those people are bringing traffic, overcrowding and a host of problems to the state. In places like Williston, North Dakota, this boom has happened so quickly that there is a desperate housing shortage that construction companies can't keep up with, and many men are living in oil company 'man camps.' How has this modern day gold rush changed the face of North Dakota, and what happens when so much money enters a state so quickly?

Todd Melby, the lead reporter and producer for 'Black Gold Boom: How Oil Changed North Dakota' on Prairie Public Radio, will join The Daily Circuit Thursday to talk about what he is seeing in the state.

"The thing that has struck me the most is that America has come to North Dakota," he said. "You can tell how bad the American economy is by coming to North Dakota...You meet people from all over the United States who packed up and moved because they had to find work. That's changing North Dakota; it was a state that was predominately white and now is full of all kinds of different people."

Ward Koeser, the mayor of Williston, N.D., will also join the discussion.

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