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Pipeline spill reported near Mandaree

MANDAREE Mark Fox, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, says tribal response teams and regulatory agencies are investigating a pipeline production water spill near Mandaree.

“During the morning of May 7, our tribal environmental and natural resource agencies were notified by a pipeline operator that a production water release had occurred. Initial assessment and reports indicate that approximately 220,000 gallons had spilled in what is primarily an open field in the Mandaree area of the Fort Berthold Reservation,” said Fox.

Produced water is a term used in the oil industry to describe water produced as a byproduct along with oil and gas. Much produced water is brine.

Fox said it was also initially reported that the spill did not directly impact any major water source, and the closest water source is an intermittent stream about 40 to 50 yards from the impacted areas.

Norma Baker-Flying Horse, public relations director for Fox, said the spill is east of N.D. Highway 22 on the south side of BIA 14. The site is in Dunn County.

Mandaree, in the western part of the reservation, is in the heart of the Bakken. The Bakken is a lucrative formation for oil in North Dakota.

“Tribal response units have and will continue to coordinate with both state and federal agencies on the matter, as well as representatives of the company involved with and responsible for the spill, Crestwood,” Fox said.

He said tribal response teams and regulatory agencies will continue to investigate and assess the situation, and further information will be released “as facts are more clearly identified or established.”

Edmund Baker, Environmental Protection Agency director, said only authorized personnel are allowed on the site of the spill during the investigation.

In July 2014, about 1 million gallons of saltwater spilled from a pipeline in the Mandaree area. The owner of that pipeline is Crestwood subsidiary Aero Pipeline LLC., according to reports about that spill.

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