BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota’s Health Department says more than 12,000 gallons of oilfield wastewater has spilled from a pipeline in Williams County, impacting an unknown amount of pastureland.
State environmental scientist Bill Suess (sees) says the pipeline operator, Polar Midstream LLC, reported the produced water spill Thursday.
Produced water is a mixture of saltwater and oil that can contain drilling chemicals. It’s a byproduct of oil and gas development.
Suess says state regulators are investing the spill about 3 miles southwest of Epping. He says some of the spill was contained to a well pad.
Polar Midstream also reported a 21,000-gallon produced water spill on Sunday near Williston. Regulators say some of that spill entered an unnamed tributary to the Missouri River.
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