# Oil Spill in ND



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

It appears these high tech pipelines are not as reliable as some espouse....that's two breaks in less than a week....this one and the one in the Oklahoma fire last week. The ND break will be a terrible long term mess to recover. The land will forever be affected.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/north_dakota_farmer_finds_oil_spill_while_harvesting_wheat_NAA_Associated_Press/


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## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

I question how "hi tech" the 20 year old ND pipeline is. They need to do a better job inspecting. Have you seen pictures of the cleanup? What a mess.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

That oil is not right it is too flammable. It blew up half a town in quebec and killed 50 people. Its supposed to burn and that crap exploded like jet fuel.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

My question is why didn't someone notice this oil missing? I mean so much oil goes in one end of the pipeline so shouldn't that same amount be received on the other end? If I was the one paying for that product, I'd wonder where the missing 20,600 barrels were at. Kind of strange when a farmer is the first one to notice the spill and not the company that is missing product.

I'm really glad I don't live out west in the oil boom area. From the stories I hear its a real mess in general.

http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/north-dakota-pipeline-spews-more-than-barrels-of-oil/article_2e624536-31bf-11e3-b7a2-0019bb2963f4.html

BISMARCK, N.D. - The state Department of Health says an oil pipeline owned by Tesoro spewed 20,600 barrels of crude oil in a wheat field in northwestern North Dakota.

Environmental geologist Kris Roberts says the spill was discovered on Sept. 29 by a farmer harvesting wheat.

Roberts says cleanup crews have been on site since then and have recovered about 1,165 barrels of oil. A barrel is 42 gallons.

Roberts says the spill covers an area the size of about seven football fields. He says the spill has been contained and no water sources have been contaminated.

Tesoro officials did not immediately return telephone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment on Thursday.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

IHCman said:


> My question is why didn't someone notice this oil missing? I mean so much oil goes in one end of the pipeline so shouldn't that same amount be received on the other end? If I was the one paying for that product, I'd wonder where the missing 20,600 barrels were at. Kind of strange when a farmer is the first one to notice the spill and not the company that is missing product.
> 
> I'm really glad I don't live out west in the oil boom area. From the stories I hear its a real mess in general.
> 
> ...


The stories you hear are glorified by the anti oil media. It isn't that bad. Besides noticing barrels missing there really is no other way to find a leak besides finding it by accident like the farmer. did. I would think the oil company would have to dig out all the contaminated dirt and replace it with clean dirt. That's what they do here when there is a problem like this.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

Yep, removing the contaminated soil and replacing it with new dirt is what they claim they are going to do. They also claim that there is a good layer of clay below the spill that will prevent it from contaminating the ground water. They are projecting though that the cleanup may take 3 to 5 years. I hope the land owner gets good compensation because that ground may never be the same.

I'm kind of hijacking this thread but there is a lot of controversy out west about surface owners rights vs. mineral owner rights. The way the law is now, the surface owner cannot stop the mineral right owner from developing their minerals. A lot of landowners don't have any mineral rights anymore and it creates a huge fight when the oil companys come in and drill on their land. The oil companies do compensate the landowners, but most don't feel its enough. The ones that try to take it to court usually lose.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

IHCman said:


> Yep, removing the contaminated soil and replacing it with new dirt is what they claim they are going to do. They also claim that there is a good layer of clay below the spill that will prevent it from contaminating the ground water. They are projecting though that the cleanup may take 3 to 5 years. I hope the land owner gets good compensation because that ground may never be the same.
> 
> I'm kind of hijacking this thread but there is a lot of controversy out west about surface owners rights vs. mineral owner rights. The way the law is now, the surface owner cannot stop the mineral right owner from developing their minerals. A lot of landowners don't have any mineral rights anymore and it creates a huge fight when the oil companys come in and drill on their land. The oil companies do compensate the landowners, but most don't feel its enough. The ones that try to take it to court usually lose.


I don't understand why it would take 3-5 years. . It is a big site and probably goes pretty deep, but still 3-5 years? This accident has nothing to do with mineral right owners. The pipeline company at one time paid the landowner (surface owner) for a right of way to go through his farm.


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