Firms accused of dumping sewage in North Dakota oil patch ditches, fields

Firms accused of dumping sewage in North Dakota oil patch ditches, fields by Nick Smith, July 13, 2012, Bismarck Tribune
State environmental health chief Dave Glatt said the first company is Mon-Dak Water and Septic Services out of Stanley. The other is Fairview, Mont.-based Hurley Oilfield Services. “We had some citizen complaints regarding the illegal disposal of waste,” Glatt said. He said the dumped sewage came from oil drilling locations and man camps located in Williams County. The total amount of sewage dumped between the two companies was more than 500,000 gallons. … Company officials provided the Health Department with documentation detailing 78 loads having been dumped at the Sipe Ranch site. An additional 33 loads also had been dumped a half-mile east of Alamo, south of N.D. Highway 50. Dave Gorham, a consultant with Hurley Oilfield Services, said he’s working with the department to find a way to resolve the situation with the company. … He said the company is looking at how to improve its techniques for sewage disposal. Gorham said the problem stems from the volume of waste in need of disposal in the growing oil patch. He said there are a limited number of lagoons for companies to dispose of waste and drivers must go long distances to reach them while working to keep up with client demand. … The document states that Health Department personnel inspected the site on Jan. 10. At one location on the site a channel had been eroded from the force of dumping sewage. The channel was 21/2 feet deep and 100 yards long. The report also stated that “the site where the waste was dumped drains toward the west for approximately 500 yards into an intermittent stream, which is an unnamed tributary of Painted Woods Creek.”

This entry was posted in Global Frac News. Bookmark the permalink.