Regulator: Corroded Pipeline Likely Cause of Saltwater Spill
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s Health Department says a corroded steel pipeline is the likely cause of a big saltwater spill in Bowman County.
State environmental scientist Bill Suess (sees) says the 168,000-gallon spill occurred Tuesday morning about 9 miles southwest of Rhame at a well site owned by Texas-based Denbury Onshore LLC.
The company did not return telephone messages seeking comment on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Suess says the briny water leaked from the defective pipeline and entered a dry creek bed. He says no water sources were threatened and the wastewater contained no chemicals used in drilling operations.
Suess says crews were using huge vacuums to recover the saltwater. He says most of the saltwater had been recovered by Wednesday morning.
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