Fracking Well Blowout Causes Oil and Chemical Wastewater Spill in North Dakota
Fracking Well Blowout Causes Oil And Chemical Wastewater Spill In North Dakota
An oil well owned by Whiting Petroleum Corp. started leaking hydraulic fracturing fluid and spewing oil late on Thursday, after a blowout that company and state officials said may take “a couple more days” to clear up, according to Friday reports in Reuters.
The well lost control after a blowout preventer failed, and began leaking between 50 and 70 barrels (2,100 to 2,940 gallons) per day of fracking fluid — a mixture of generally classified chemicals, water, and sand — and 200 barrels (8,400 gallons) per day of oil, the Reuters reports said. As of Friday, fluids from the leak were being collected and trucked from the site. Whiting is maintaining that none of the liquids entered the water, though some oily “mist” did spray onto the frozen creek.
“This [leak] is a large one and also a health and human risk, it’s a big one,” Lynn Helms, the head of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources, said in a conference call.
“Pressure and control of a well is essentially priority number one for oil and gas companies.”
By Monday, it was unclear if the well had been fixed and if the oil and wastewater had stopped leaking. Calls to both Whiting Petroleum and the North Dakota Mineral Resources Department were not immediately returned.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/17/3299221/north-dakota-blowout/
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