North Dakota oil spill 3 times larger than first estimated

A company’s efforts to clean up after an oil spill are a large factor in how much of a fine is levied, according to Seuss.

“We tend to hold off on those. It’s kind of a motivator,” he said.

The largest oil pipeline spill in North Dakota was 840,000 gallons, in a wheat field near Tioga in September 2013.

In the December spill, an unknown amount of oil flowed into Ash Coulee Creek, which feeds into the Little Missouri River, a tributary of the Missouri River. Seuss said no oil made it into those rivers or into any drinking water source, but that the focus is on cleaning up the creek before spring grazing season, since cattle drink from the waterway.

There have been no confirmed cases of livestock or wildlife deaths related to the spill. One rancher reported some cattle deaths but refused to allow the state veterinarian to do a necropsy, according to Seuss. Cleanup crews also found a dead beaver, but it’s not known what caused the death.

The pipeline had been leaking since being restarted Dec. 1 following routine maintenance, Seuss said. A landowner discovered the spill on Dec. 5.

There is still oil seeping out of the hillside but it’s being contained. Soil remediation work could take “a year or more,” Seuss said.

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Blake Nicholson, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

North Dakota oil spill 3 times larger than first estimated

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