WATFORD CITY – About 20 barrels of produced water were spilled when a truck accident occurred near Watford City on Thursday. The spill impacted a small unnamed creek on U.S. Forest Service property.

Blackshirt, LLC is the operator of the truck that was transporting the produced water, a by-product of oil and gas development. The accident occurred about nine miles southeast of Watford City. Icy road conditions are believed to be the cause of the accident.

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality was notified of the spill.

The unnamed creek that the produced water spilled into discharges into Elkhorn Creek, about 4 1/2 miles miles downstream of the incident.

Personnel from the NDDEQ are inspecting the site and will continue to monitor the investigation and remediation.