Housing

The Other Side of the North Dakota Oil Boom: Evictions

Research into Williams County’s fracking industry shows how a commodity boom can accelerate the number of people losing their homes. 

An oil rig in Trenton, North Dakota, in 2012.

Photographer: Maud Delaflotte/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

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Williams County, North Dakota, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the state’s fracking boom. In the past decade, millions of barrels of oil have been pumped from its land, and the population of its largest city, Williston, has doubled.