N. Dakota Oil Spill Dumps Half Million Gallons


Estimates of this spill have now been adjusted to 530 000 gallons.
North Dakota has suffered a large oil spill from a ruptured pipeline. Over half a million gallons have seeped out of the soil and into Ash Coulee Creek. The creek is a tributary to the Little Missouri River which in turn flows into the Missouri River.

The company that owns the pipeline has revised its figures on the December spill upward from  176 000 gallons to 530 000 gallons. They have embarked on a clean up exercise by skimming oil floating on the waterway and have assured the public that they will clean it up. It may take a year.

The pipeline company did not elaborate on how they plan to recapture the oil that has already floated down river.

This is not the largest oil spill in N. Dakota. In 2013 a ruptured pipeline released about 840 000 gallons.

The revelation comes hard on the heels of US President D. Trump’s signing an executive order to restart construction of the Keystone XL pipeline which would bring Alberta oil to the Gulf of Mexico. There is an existing Keystone pipeline, but the construction would shorten the route and add capacity.

The US president has included the controversial pipeline in his plans to create good paying jobs for Americans. Fewer than 5 000 temporary jobs are expected to be created.

The steel that is not already stockpiled is expected to be imported to the US from Canada and India.

Further Reading:
North Dakota Department of Health             
NBC News                      

The Weather Network     

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