Cleanup Update Following North Dakota's Biggest Produced Water Spill
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
The largest produced-water spill since the beginning of North Dakota's current energy boom forced cleanup crews to pump away at least 4 million gallons of freshwater, oil, and brine after the incident contaminated a creek and eventually reached the Missouri River, according to figures recently released by the federal government.
A report issued in January by the EPA provides "an overall assessment on the nearly 3 million-gallon spill of [produced water] generated by oil drilling that leaked from a ruptured pipeline that operator Summit Midstream Partners LLC detected on Jan. 6. It remains unclear exactly when the spill occurred and what caused it," according to the Associated Press.
The spill occurred in Marmon, ND, contaminating the Blacktail Creek. It reached the Little Muddy River and the Missouri River.
"The Blacktail Creek spill is the largest wastewater or 'produced water' spill since the oil boom began in North Dakota nearly 10 years ago, and more than twice as large in volume as the Yellowstone River oil spill," according to NET, North Dakota's public broadcasting service.
The produced water pumped from the creek will now be stored underground, according to the AP.
"The mixture of fresh water, brine and oil that has been pumped from several locations along Blacktail Creek is being transported to a well site to be injected underground. [Produced water] is usually pumped underground for permanent storage from a network of pipelines that extends to hundreds of disposal wells in the western part of the state," the PA reported.
North Dakota's spill problem is becoming increasingly dire.
"An Inside Energy analysis of data provided by the state has found that the spill rate -- the number of oil and [produced water] spills per well -- has nearly doubled since the beginning of the boom. Saltwater is a by-product of oil extraction, and can destroy farmland for years," according to Inside Energy.
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