N DAKOTA

#12 SPILL BABY SPILL

Some people have suggested that the only solution to our energy crisis is to frac more wells and
produce more tar sands. Unfortunately the industry has been all too eager to justify this
conclusion by minimizing the consequences of spills and using biased risk analysis. As the
examples from North Dakota show, major spills have been far more common and potentially far
more devastating than the industry predicts. There is no more misleading analysis than that
submitted by TransCanada for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
The chart below is from Appendix P of the Risk Assessment for the Final Env. Impact Assess for
KXL. The analysis estimates that a spill of 1000 barrels (42,000 gallons) to 10,000 barrels
(420,000 gallons) will occur once every 100 years to 1000 years.


Furthermore, the estimate of Benzene toxic exposures is completely unsupported by any plume
modeling or previous major spills.

The analysis above from TransCanada unbelievably estimates that recommended Benzene levels
for drinking water (5 parts per billion) will exceed these Maximum Contaminant Levels only
once in an unlikely 75,000 years to a ridiculous 830,000 years. So why have we had five major
spills (see below) of oil and fracking related fluids in N. Dakota in the past 10 years each with
more than 420,000 gallons and most more than twice that spill volume? In the last 10 years, each
of the 5 Major Frac- related spills below exceeded this level.

Name Date Location Company Gallons Type Source Cause
Mandaree 7/9/14 Bear Den
Bay
Crestwood 1
million
Frac
water
Pipe
separation
Casselton 12/30/2013 BNSF 400,000 Bakken
Oil
Tank
Car
Derailment
Big
Gumbo
Creek
11/25/2013 Bowman
Co
Denbury 715,000 Frac
Water
3
Plastic
Pipe
Temperature
Break
Tioga
Farm
9/29/13 N. Tioga Tesoro 1
million
Bakken
Oil
6 pipe Lightning
Alexander Jan 2006 N Dakota
Creek
Zenergy 1
million
Frac
Water
3
Plastic
Pipe

The 5 largest Fracking-related onshore spills in ND


North Dakota Major Spills Index Map
1) Mandaree-Bear Den Bay Spill
Sometime during the July 4
th
, 2014 weekend, a major spill of saltwater and fracking chemicals
occurred on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation near Mandaree, ND. Crestwood Midstream
reported a loss of about 1 million gallons of frack water from a separated pipe on top of a
badlands bluff in rugged terrain described as "one of the worst places it could have happened".
All of the equipment needed must be carried in by hand due to the inaccessible location. The
underground line contained brine from fracking operations along with unknown chemicals. The
brine is between 10 and 30 times saltier than sea water while the pipe still contained oil residues.
Reportedly, the leak took a week to find because the line did not have electronic pressure
monitoring and the spill was only discovered when the company was going through production
loss reports. The result was a contaminated ravine nearly 2 miles long containing dying trees,
brush and grasses. The ravine leads into the Missouri River Reservoir which flows into Lake
Sakakawea, a source of drinking water for the reservation. Tribal officials decided to take
Mandaree's water supply off its normal source, until questions about the million-gallon leak are
answered. The area is dotted with beaver dams and may take weeks to clean up. There were 141
pipeline leaks reported in North Dakota in 2012, 99 of which spilled about 8,000 barrels of
saltwater.
This single spill of frac water was more than twice of all those combined. Following the trio of
recent catastrophic environmental spills, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club claimed
the treatment of fracking-related fluids is bordering on negligence. "This is outrageous. The
regulating agencies and industry need to take this more serious."

Google Earth index of Bear Den Bay, The Missouri River and Lake Sakakawea

Photo of dying vegetation after Bear Den Bay spill

2) Casselton Train Collision
On December 30, 2013, a westbound BNSF train carrying soybeans derailed 13 of 112 cars
approximately one mile west of Casselton. An adjacent eastbound BNSF train carrying Bakken
Crude oil struck wreckage from the westbound train. The collision derailed the first 21 of 106
cars and ignited the crude oil and caused a chain of large explosions, which were heard and felt
several miles away. The resulting fireball created a massive cloud of black smoke, which
resulted in a voluntary evacuation of the city and surrounding area (about 1400 people) as a
precaution. Of the 20 tank cars that derailed, 18 were breached (punctured) with initial estimates
that more than 400,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil was released.

Casselton Fire from petroleum crude oil tank car explosion.
Photo credit: Dawn Faught
Although no casualties were reported, the incident occurred in proximity to a populated area and
renewed safety concerns regarding the transportation of hazardous materials by rail, especially in
the wake of the Lac-Mgantic derailment in Canada earlier in the year. Casselton mayor Ed
McConnell, acknowledged that the town "dodged a bullet." [Source: Wiki and NTSB 2013
Preliminary Report]. On January 2, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
(PHMSA) issued a major safety alert, declaring oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing (fracking)
in the Bakken Shale may be more chemically explosive than the agency or industry previously
admitted publicly. A Canadian government study of North Dakota crude concluded it had a
volatility comparable to that of a gasoline product.

3) Bowman Spill
MARMARTH, N.D. -- A saltwater pipeline leak on Nov. 25, 2013 near the western border of
Bowman Co, ND has released 17,000 barrels of brine, polluting more than a mile of a creek in
the Badlands of southwest North Dakota, authorities said Tuesday. The spill, which is equivalent
to about 714,000 gallons, is one of the largest saltwater spills to occur in North Dakota,
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/35756/publisher_ID/82/#sthash.CWgTk4Uf.dpuf

The spill, reported Monday by Denbury Onshore, reached the Big Gumbo Creek and flowed
down 1.4 miles of the creek into a rural area of Bowman County, about 14 miles south of
Marmarth, the North Dakota Department of Health said. The pipe that leaked was a 3 fiberglass
line carrying production water from one Denbury facility to another.
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/35756/publisher_ID/82/#sthash.CWgTk4Uf.dpuf
The cause of the leak is under investigation but shifting ground due to changes in temperature
may have caused the pipeline to split.
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/35756/publisher_ID/82/#sthash.CWgTk4Uf.dpuf
According to a Bowman County Emergency Manager This is tough. It sometimes kills grass
for years to come after if its not cleaned up properly. Its actually more of a concern,
environmentally, than oil is.
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/35756/publisher_ID/82/#sthash.CWgTk4Uf.dpuf
Another spill was reported by the same company in the same area on Jan 10, 2014. A flow of
2000 barrels (84,000 gallons) of contaminated water got into the nearby Kid Creek stream less
than 2 months after the previous spill.
There were 74 pipeline leaks in 2013 that spilled 22,000 barrels of saltwater, 17,000 barrels of
which was from a single mishap in Bowman County, state records show. North Dakota oil
drillers produced a record 313.5 million barrels of crude in 2013 along with about 350 million
barrels of contaminated water, state data show.
4) Tioga Spill

Tioga Oil spill in Wheat Field
On Sept. 29, 2013, a farmer whose combines tires were coated in crude discovered oil spewing
from the ground. The state initially thought just 750 barrels of oil was involved, but it turned out
to be one of the largest spills in North Dakota history an estimated 20,600 barrels (865,000
gallons) covering over 7.3 acres of land, or about the size of seven football fields. This incident
appears to be the largest to date in the Bakken Shale Formation and it wasnt publicly reported
for 11 days.


A photo of the in situ burning of oil from a distance;
Photo Credit: Greenpeace USA

Over 865,000 Gallons of Fracked Oil in the Soil;
Photo Credit: Greenpeace USA

This spill occurred in a field near Tioga a small town whose motto is "Oil Capital of North
Dakota." It was not far from another wheat farm where oil was first discovered in North Dakota
in 1951.

The source of the spill was a quarter-inch hole in a 20-year-old, 6-inch pipeline. According to
Tesoro, the hole was caused by a lightning strike or electrical discharge which resulted in
localized heating of the pipe wall above the melting point of the steel. If a hole in a 6 pipe
can cause the largest spill in the Bakken Shale, then much larger spills and severe consequences
are likely in North Dakotas future.

A vacuum truck cleans up oil near Tioga, N.D

5) Alexander Yellowstone River Spill
l
Photo of 2006 spill in Charbonneau Creek
A 2006 Zenergy pipeline spill dumped about 1 million gallons of saltwater into Charbonneau
Creek in northwest North Dakota. At the time it was called the worst environmental disaster in
state history. The ruptured pipeline allowed saltwater to spew unnoticed for weeks into a
tributary of the Yellowstone River near Alexander and caused a massive die-off of fish, turtles
and plants and threatened cattle in the area. The rancher sued Zenergy for more than $75,000 and
settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
In September 2007 Zenergy Inc. agreed to pay North Dakota $123,300 as part of a settlement
with the state. This includes violations of state laws and regulations, as well as reimbursement to
the Department of Health. As part of the agreement, Zenergy continues to clean up the
contaminated soil and water impacted by the spill. This spill eventually led to proposed
legislation to mandate flow meters and cutoff switches on such lines which was overwhelmingly
rejected in 2013 by the State Legislature.
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/35756/publisher_ID/82/#sthash.CWgTk4Uf.dpuf



North Dakota Major Frac Spills 2000 - 2013
As the map above indicates, the North Dakota Dept. of Health has recorded over 8000 spills of
oil and frac fluids between 2000 and 2013. The vast majority of these spills were neither
monitored nor regulated. There is no legal requirement for public disclosure of these types of
spills in the state.


Comparison of Pipe Sizes for N. Dakota Major Spills
All of the major spills described above flowed through pipes 6 inches or smaller or from tank car
spills. Now the industry wants to move Tar Sands and Bakken Crude through pipelines 20 or
36 in diameter. It is foolish to believe that these larger pipe sizes wont lead to much larger
spills in the future. This is what a 20 inch pipeline looks like after it ruptures.


Ruptured Segment from Pegasus Pipeline in Mayflower, AR

http://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Pegasus-pipeline-rupture.jpg




Part of the 36 Keystone XL pipeline under construction
Source: http://socialistworker.org/2012/10/03/a-pipeline-that-threatens-us-all


Major Crude Oil Rail Routes in Mid-West US
There are no safe routes for transporting Bakken Crude or Tar Sands across the US. by train or
pipeline. All that we can be sure of is that oil eventually leaks and the more toxic oils seem to
leak the most frequently.

North Dakota Spills of Oil and Fracking Fluids (2000-2013)
North Dakota has some of the most lax regulations for oil transport of any state and they are
likely to suffer some of the worst consequences. It is a strange bargain when the health and
safety of the many are sacrificed for the wealth of a few. The illusion is that they believe the
risks are manageable, when in fact they have just been lucky so far. What are they going to say
when they set fire to an entire city.

Major Oil Train Routes in North Dakota
The transport of Bakken Crude is particularly dangerous under present regulations and until the
state and federal agencies confront this reality, lives will be lost. Moving Bakken Crude through
the same pipelines as Tar Sands is a recipe for disaster.