Almost 200 barrels of propylene glycol and over 100 barrels of produced water spilled from a Hess Corporation pipeline in Williams County on Dec. 5th.
Bill Suess is spill investigation manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. He says the spill happened during a pipeline pressure test about two miles north of Ray.
"Propylene glycol is an antifreeze, but it is a nontoxic from of antifreeze. Ethylene glycol is the stuff you use in your car and that's the toxic, dangerous to kids, wildlife, and stuff like that. Propylene glycol is the stuff you would use in winterizing your RV or summer cabin, you put it in the plumbing, it's the nontoxic antifreeze."
Suess says the spill impacted agricultural land.
"The produced water is the biggest concern out there. Salt and farmland do not go together well. There will have to be the cleanup of it. They'll target the produced water, and any remnants of the glycol will get taken care of with the salt."