http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/official-3m-gallons-saltwater-spills-damage-unclear-28388280
Nearly 3M Gallons of Brine Spill; ND Oil Boom's Largest Leak
WILLISTON, N.D. — Jan 21, 2015, 8:40 PM ET
By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
Nearly 3 million gallons of saltwater generated by oil drilling have
leaked from a North Dakota pipeline, an official said Wednesday, the
largest such spill since the state's current oil boom began and nearly
three times worse than previous record spills. Two creeks have been
affected, but the full environmental effect might not be clear for months.
Operator Summit Midstream Partners LLC detected the pipeline spill on
Jan. 6, about 15 miles north of Williston and told health officials
then. Officials say they weren't given a full account of the size until
Tuesday.
Cleanup has begun and inspectors have been monitoring the area, but it
will be difficult to measure the effects on the environment and wildlife
until the ice melts, said Dave Glatt, chief of the North Dakota
Department of Health's environmental health section. Some previous
saltwater spills have taken years to clean up.
"This is not something we want to happen in North Dakota," Glatt said.
At the moment, the spill doesn't threaten public drinking water or human
health, Glatt said. He said a handful of farmers have been asked to keep
their livestock away from the two creeks, the smaller of which will be
drained.
The saltwater, known as brine, is an unwanted byproduct of oil and
natural gas production that is much saltier than sea water and may also
contain petroleum and residue from hydraulic fracturing operations.
The new spill is almost three times larger than one that fouled a
portion of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in July. Another
million-gallon saltwater spill in 2006, near Alexander, is still being
cleaned up nearly a decade later.
Summit Midstream said in a statement Wednesday that about 65,000 barrels
of a mix of freshwater and brine have been pumped out from Blacktail
Creek. Brine also reached the bigger Little Muddy Creek and potentially
the Missouri River.
Glatt said the Blacktail Creek will be fully drained as part of the
initial cleanup, but the water and soil will have to be continuously
tested until after the spring thaw because some of the contaminated
water has frozen. The Little Muddy Creek will not be drained because it
is bigger than the Blacktail Creek and the saltwater is being diluted.
"We will be monitoring to see how quickly it gets back to natural
background water quality conditions, and we are already starting to see
that," Glatt said of the Little Muddy Creek. "It's getting back pretty
quickly."
Summit Midstream's chief operating officer, Rene Casadaban, said in a
statement that the company's "full and undivided attention" is focused
on cleaning up the spill and repairing any environmental damage.
Spokesman Jonathan Morgan did not immediately confirm exactly when the
spill began. It also was not clear what caused the pipeline to rupture.
Glatt said the company has found the damaged portion of pipeline and it
was sent to a laboratory to determine what caused the hole.
North Dakota has suffered scores of saltwater spills since the state's
oil boom began in earnest in 2006.
A network of saltwater pipelines extends to hundreds of disposal wells
in the western part of the state, where the briny water is pumped
underground for permanent storage. Legislation to mandate flow meters
and cutoff switches on saltwater pipelines was overwhelmingly rejected
in the Legislature in 2013.
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