THE SECRET OIL SPILL : HOW AUTHORITIES IN NORTH DAKOTA KEPT QUIET ABOUT A LARGE OIL SPILL FOR TWO WEEKS

 

 K. Cederstrom photographer

Seems North Dakotans are not so protected by authorities as they think they are.

A very large spill of over 20,000 barrels of crude spread over the North Dakota countryside after a pipeline burst.  The pipeline borders a wheat field.  No one informed the public after the incident.

The discovery was made by the farmer who tends to the wheat field.   

The state of North Dakota is now squarely in the middle of the US campaign for energy independence.  The quaint, almost remote areas of the state, which used to be principally farming land, have now become one of the country's major oil producing regions.  

This incident, like previous ones, will reignite the discussion on pipeline safety, which was one of the major sticking point for delaying the approval of the Canadian- American pipeline, known as the XL pipeline.  

 

Authorities are trying to minimize the impact of the spill by saying that the reports of its size are overblown, but the truth is that until the press published reports on the spill, the oil pipeline managers and North Dakota public authority alike failed to report the incident. 

But the problem might just be how North Dakota runs its affairs.  Insular and underpopulated, North Dakota has always been a place where the public comes second  to the corporate interests and government administrators.  

The spill was only detected on September 29th when the farmer was cutting the wheat, in the fields near the town of Tioga, North Dakota.  

Cleanup has begun at the farm and in affected areas.  But the problem remains that North Dakota is a place where environmental concerns and the respect for public safety seem not to be a paramount concern of the authorities. 

The spill furthermore could impact the affected area in more than just visible ways.  Although it might not contaminate waterways, it will affect the environment and the animals that live within the zone for a while.  

What is not known to everyone, is that the pipeline in this incident, and a number of other conduits in the areas that border Canada, are doing in fact, although in a smaller scale, what the XL pipeline would do if it were approved, and that is service the shale oil field in Canada and transport the crude to the US for refining.  And that, might just be the most worrisome part of all..

Op-Ed

Source : Al Jazeera  10/13/13