July 10, 2014
BY JOSH WOOD AND JAMES MACPHERSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANDAREE, N.D. -- A pipeline has leaked 1 million gallons (click here) of oil drilling saltwater into the ground at a North Dakota Indian reservation, and some of the byproduct ended up in a bay that feeds the lake that provides the reservation's drinking water, company and tribal officials said.
Cleanup at the Fort Berthold reservation site continued Thursday, two days after the leak was discovered. It was expected to last for weeks, said Miranda Jones, the vice president of environmental safety and regulatory at Houston-based Crestwood Midstream Services Inc.
Jones said the leak at the underground pipeline, owned by Crestwood subsidiary Aero Pipeline LLC, likely started over the Fourth of July weekend. The pipeline was not equipped with a system that sends an alert when there is a leak, she said, and the spill was only discovered when the company was going through production loss reports.
"This is something no company wants on their record, and we are working diligently to clean it up," Jones said....
