U.S. Water News Online
BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota's transportation department appears to have violated state laws by spraying salty oil field wastewater on roads as a deicer, a Chicago-based environmental law group says.
If the transportation department continues to spray the salt water on its roads, it could face civil penalties and could be sued by its citizens, said Brad Klein, an attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
"I think it's pretty clear state regulations cover this type of activity," Klein said.
State law requires that waste associated with an oil well be disposed of in an authorized facility, and requires a permit to haul it.
"At no time shall saltwater liquids or brines be allowed to flow over or pool on the surface of the land or infiltrate the soil," the law says.
Klein said his group reviewed North Dakota laws for the Dakota Resource Council, a Dickinson-based environmental and landowner group.
"We did ask for this and we're going to be monitoring the situation," said Mark Trechock, director of the Dakota Resource Council.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said in an interview that he had not seen the opinion by the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
"I can't tell you if this group is right or wrong," Stenehjem said. "We're just in the preliminary stages of reviewing the legal requirements."
The more than 40-year practice of using the oil well wastewater to melt ice and snow on North Dakota roads -- mostly in the Dickinson area -- was halted earlier this month, after Health Department officials learned of it.
It will be at least until the snow flies next year before officials finish analyzing the environmental and legal questions involving oil field wastewater dumped on roads as a deicer.
State officials say testing will be done on soil, streams and wetlands near where the salty wastewater was used.
Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, told North Dakota's Industrial Commission it would take several months to determine whether any violations occurred and whether any changes are needed.
The commission's members are Gov. John Hoeven, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson.
"We want to make sure we're in compliance with all the statutes," Stenehjem said. "First and foremost, we need to make sure our environment is being taken care of."
State transportation director Francis Ziegler told the Industrial Commission the practice has dated back to 1963. He said the untreated salty water taken directly from oil wells has been used almost exclusively in the Dickinson area since then, as well as in Williston and Minot. The practice had been expanded to the Devils Lake area in the past couple of years, he said.
"We did not willfully violate any state or federal laws," Ziegler told the Industrial Commission.
The department received the wastewater free from oil companies that otherwise would have to dispose of it in injection wells.
Ziegler has said the state spends about $750,000 a year on rock salt, which is used in other parts of the state. He told the Industrial Commission that the free briny water from oil companies "works better than regular rock salt."
Dave Glatt, director of the state Health Department's environmental health section, said the use of the salty wastewater over the past four decades does not appear to have caused any damage, but it won't be known for sure until the state completes its assessment.
"I don't know of any widespread impact," he said.
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