Business booms as wind farm construction begins at Judith Gap, Montana

Winds of fortune: Business booms as wind farm construction begins at Judith Gap

Thirty people are at work constructing the wind farm south of Judith
Gap, but hordes of workers soon will be here and local businesses are
ready with open cash registers.

by JIM DULLENTY

June 11, 2005
News-Argus Staff Writer

Judith Gap Mayor Dave Foster said the town’s bulk oil dealer has bulk
delivery contracts with two contractors on the project and the local
bars have been doing a booming business.

But Foster thinks things really will be hopping in Judith Gap,
Harlowton, and even as far away as Lewistown, when 180 to 200 workers
are on the job from early July until some time in October.

Shawn Cameron, project superintendent, said many workers pack their
lunch but others are eating in nearby restaurants. And workers are
telling each other about the best places to eat at night all over the
region, Cameron said.

He said he found a little bar in Judith Gap, which he called the 100
Dollar Club but which is known locally as Bar 100, where they serve a
mighty good hamburger for lunch.

Many of the workers live in nearby towns and go home each work night,
but others are staying wherever they can as close as possible to the
work site, said Cameron. He said workers are traveling from Lewistown,
Harlowton, Big Timber, and even Billings, to work on the wind farm.

Foster said some homes in Judith Gap have been rented to workers and
he’s received other inquiries, but there’s still some housing that can
be rented or sold. He said he expects Judith Gap to fill up when peak
employment arrives after July 1.

In their spare time, the workers are traveling about the region seeing
historic sites and several said they plan to go fishing. Some said
they’ve never seen mountains like those at Judith Gap so they’ve been
using spare time to travel around and look at the mountains, Cameron
said.

"We’re doing what the local people are doing," said Cameron, who is from
Butte. He said in earlier years he had spent a little time hunting in
the Little Belts and has attended motorcycle races in Lewistown but he
is not too familiar with this area.

Cameron, who has helped build wind farms in several states, said he
looks forward to having spare time to explore the region.

Of course, large construction projects – this one is costing an
estimated $150 million – are not all roses and ringing cash registers.
For Judith Gap, there’s already been a considerable increase in traffic,
and as the project grows, traffic will grow, said Foster.

Big cement trucks from Lewistown have been traveling through Judith Gap
because a Lewistown firm, Kodiak Concrete, has the cement contract.

Local law enforcement and fire departments met with Cameron and others
to assess the possibility of increased crime and fire danger.

"I don’t see it as a problem," said Foster, referring to increased
crime.

"They told us the contractor – D.H. Blattner Co. is general contractor –
will not tolerate drugs or alcohol. They said they will get rid of
anyone with a problem with those."

One problem recently arose over housing in Judith Gap, Foster said. Two
Navaho Indians who are working at the wind farm were looking for a place
to live in Judith Gap. They were told they might have difficulty finding
someplace to live.

But Foster insists they will have no problem, that in Judith Gap,
"people think of them as friends and neighbors."

Cameron said ground was broken in mid-May. Thus far, about 40 percent of
the roads have been built and workers are starting to lay the concrete
foundations for the towers that will hold the generators and rotors.

Rain has slowed things a bit and created muddy conditions, but there
have been enough breaks when things could dry out that the schedule has
not been hurt much.

"It’s not stopping us by any means," said Cameron, of the frequent rains
in Central Montana.

Cameron operates out of an office recently set up on Oxford Road (County
Road 12) about three miles east of Highway 191 midway between Judith Gap
and Harlowton. He wants everyone to know he is Blattner’s superintendent
of the project. He said he answers to a person who has the title
"project manager." That person is Ludlow Howe in Blattner’s Billings
office.

He noted that big long missile-like tubes for the towers will begin
arriving at the end of June. He said the route they will take to get to
Judith Gap has not been determined.

But Foster said many of the tower parts are coming from North Dakota and
likely will be trucked through Jordan and Lewistown to Judith Gap.

Blattner also will be using huge cranes, and their movement to the
construction site will be noticed. Cameron said big trucks will be
hauling the turbine blades and other large parts to the construction
site.

These items will be offloaded and stored at each foundation site until
there are enough to begin erection of the wind tower generators. A total
of 90 generators will be built and each will produce 1.5 megawatts of
power. Also to be built is a large substation. Most of the transmission
will be on existing lines owned by Northwestern Energy Co.

Towers will be erected on both sides of Highway 191. The towers will go
up after July 4 and the three-blade rotors will go on top during the
latter part of July. The turbines are scheduled to go on line by the end
of the year but Cameron believes they could go on line as early as the
end of October.

Local businesses, vendors, farmers and ranchers have been "fantastic" to
work with, said Cameron. He noted most of the wind turbines will be
located on private property, although a few will be on a small patch of
state property west of the highway.

People are "excited" about the project, Cameron said. About the only
question he’s heard has to do with Blattner hiring a lot of out-of-state
contractors and workers. But nearly all of the contractors are from
Montana and most of the workers are, too, he said.

Blattner, which is headquartered in Avon, Minn., has had a Montana
office for more than 20 years, said Cameron.

"We know people are curious and we welcome them if they are interested,"
said Cameron. He said that so far he has not had to deal with too many
visitors. But if anyone is interested, they must stop at the office
first before they go to any location on the work site.

"Safety comes first here, before anything else. So everyone has to check
in," said Cameron.

But just in case not everyone gets the message, Cameron added, Blattner
is providing 24-hour security at the job site when workers are not in
the field.

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