Oilfield wastewater line spills in northwestern North Dakota

By JAMES MacPHERSON
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators are investigating a massive spill of  oilfield wastewater from a broken pipeline in the northwest part of the of the state. Karl Rockman, of the state Department of Environmental Quality, says Hess Corp. reported the saltwater spill near Ray on Aug. 15. The company believes the spill may have start July 21 but it was not detected or reported until mid-August. Hess originally estimated its size to be 8,400 gallons but bumped the estimate Monday to 1.4 million gallons, or enough to more then fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools. It wasn’t immediately known what caused the leak.