Crews excavating North Dakota land after large spill
BISMARCK, N.D. – Crews in North Dakota are excavating pastureland after more than 120,000 gallons of oil and drilling wastewater overflowed from a tank.
State environmental scientist Bill Suess (sees) says the spill happened Wednesday near Marmarth, in southwestern North Dakota, at a site operated by Texas-based Denbury Onshore.
The company has not responded to telephone and email messages seeking comment.
Suess says about 17,000 gallons of oil and 105,000 gallons of what’s called produced water — a mixture of saltwater and oil that can contain drilling chemicals — spilled from a tank after a shut-off sensor failed.
Suess says a berm around the oil well site didn’t contain the spill. He says an area about the size of a football field was affected but no waterways or drinking water sources are threatened.
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