News
Brine and oil spill in Antler
Scott Wagar
08/05/2014
According to North Dakota Department of Health a saltwater and oil spill has happened in the Antler area which distributed 260 barrels of the brine and five barrels of oil on a local ag producer’s field and a road ditch.
The spill took place four miles southwest of Antler on land farmed by Robert Artz. The accident occurred when a disposal tank collapsed in on itself, discharging saltwater and oil in and around the tank site.
Antler native, Stan Bergstrom of Bergstrom Construction, is cleaning the spill and by Wednesday evening his company had the top soil and clay that was contaminated by the spill ready to be removed from the property. Bergstrom stated that he expected the contaminated soil to be completely removed from the site early this week.
Artz stated that he blames the state for not enforcing the laws that are in place to protect farm land. He said that a tank site has to have a dike big enough to contain an entire spill for the number of tanks located at a site.
According to Alison Ritter, public information officer for the Department of Mineral Resource (DMR), the law states the dike has to be able to sustain the largest tank on site plus one day’s production.
Ritter added the incident in Antler is under an inquiry.
“We are investigating as to whether or not the diking was sufficient,” Ritter said.
Ag producers have concerns over these types of spills, especially when saltwater is involved because it is believed that it damages farmland to the point it cannot be utilized for crop production for generations.
This is especially true for producers in the Antler area who have seen thousands of acres destroyed by brine spills in recent years.
Murex Petroleum owns the site where the spill occurred.