Oil Spill into Yellowstone River

Pipeline in Montana Spilled up to 50,000 Gallons of Crude Oil into the Yellowstone River

Some residents arereportedlysmelling and tasting oil in their drinking water, causing the EPA to test water samples and the city water plant to cease drawing water from the river.

The 12-inch diameter steel pipe breached and spilled anywhere from 12,600 to 50,000 gallons of oil nine miles upriver from the town of Glendive, with an unknown amount of it spilling into the partially frozen river, according to a statement from Bridger Pipeline LLC. The company said the spill occurred at 10 a.m. and they "shut in" the flow of oil just before 11 a.m. — meaning that though the pipeline section could still empty itself of its contents, no new addition oil would flow into the spilled area.

"Oil has made it into the river," Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvinconfirmedto the AP on Monday. "We do not know how much at this point." Observers spotted oil, some of which was trapped under the ice, up to60 milesdownstream from Glendive. Paul Peronard, the EPA's on-scene coordinator, said crews were attempting to use booms to prevent the spill from spreading further but the ice on top of the river was forcing them to "hunt and peck" through it.

Thisphotofrom the Billings Gazette shows the oil visible through the icy river from the air.

Clean-up crews were en route to the site on Sunday afternoon after local, state, and federal levels were notified. The pipeline sits at least eight feet below the river bed. There are concerns that the water supply could be compromised, though the City of Glendive Water Plant said on Sunday that nothing unusual had been detected.

"I am not saying the water is unsafe. I am not saying it is safe," said Dawson County Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator Mary Jo Gehnert,according toMTN News. "We are waiting for officials to arrive who can make that decision."

"We think it was caught pretty quick, and it was shut down,"saidMontana Governor Steve Bullock spokesperson Dave Parker, noting that the river was frozen over near the spill, which could help isolate the spill.

ParkertoldMTN News that "the Governor is committed to ensuring that the river is completely cleaned up and the folks responsible are held accountable."

In 2011, an Exxon Mobil pipelinespilled63,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone near Laurel, Montana. Days after the spill, goat rancher Alexis Bonogofsky was hospitalized foracute hydrocarbon exposureafter noticing oil slicks along the riverbank abutting her ranch. She lived far enough downstream that any evacuation order missed her, she said. There wasconcernthen that the cause of the spill was related to climate-change-influenced raging floodwaters that exposed the normally deeply-buried pipe to damaging debris.

Even two years later, the state wasstill fightingwith Exxon over damages to the area from the spill and the clean-up process, leaving fish, birds, and wildlife dead or injured and interrupting environmental studies, recreation, and fishing.

Source: Think Progress

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