Pipeline spill contaminates dry creek bed in northwest North Dakota

A pipeline spill released thousands of barrels of an oilfield byproduct in McKenzie County, state regulators said Thursday. 

The pipeline operated by Tallgrass Water spilled an estimated 3,402 barrels, or 142,884 gallons, of produced water on Wednesday. Produced water is a byproduct of oil production, sometimes called saltwater or brine, that can cause significant environmental damage. 

Bill Suess, manager of the Department of Environmental Quality’s spill investigation program, said the incident is “larger than a typical spill” but far from the biggest spills in the state’s history. 

“We’re treating it as a larger spill, but I don’t anticipate this one to be a long-term cleanup,” Suess said. “It seems to be fairly isolated.”

Some of the spill flowed into the creek bed of a tributary of Cherry Creek about 10 miles southwest of Watford City, according to a press release from the Department of Environmental Quality. 

The tributary was not flowing at the time, and the agency does not anticipate any downstream impacts on Cherry Creek, Suess said. 

“This tributary is isolated right now, so they’re working to get everything pumped out of there before we get precipitation and it starts flowing,” Suess said Thursday. 

The spill has been contained and cleanup is underway. The company constructed a berm across the tributary and is pumping out the produced water. Suess said the company will move on to addressing the contamination of soil in the area next. 

An estimated 1,200 barrels, or 50,400 gallons, of produced water had been recovered as of the spill report filed Wednesday afternoon. 

The cause of the pipeline leak is unknown. 

North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge can be reached at [email protected].