The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Extreme cold weather causing spate of oil spills
Bitter cold weather is causing a rash of spills in the oil fields of North Dakota as well as a slowdown in production, regulators say.
North Dakota has seen multiple days of frigid weather with wind chills at times reaching as low as minus 70 degrees in its Bakken oil fields. Regulators say that strains workers and equipment, which can result in mishaps that lead to spills.
More than 60 spills and other gas or oil environmental problems have been reported in the last week, according to the state’s spill dashboard.
“This is probably the worst little stretch that I’ve seen since I took over the spill program” a decade ago, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality Spill Investigation Program Manager Bill Suess told the Bismarck Tribune.
Public health is not at risk due to the remoteness of the spills, Suess said. The spills most commonly have involved crude oil and produced water — wastewater that is a byproduct of oil and gas production, containing oil, drilling chemicals and salts.
Produced water spills can cause long-term damage to impacted land.
Some companies are already engaged in cleanup despite the extreme cold, while others wait for the weather to warm. Suess said that given the extreme circumstances, the agency is giving companies some breathing room, but still expects the work to begin soon.
“They can’t wait until spring thaw,” Suess said. “They’re going to have to get out there working on these in the next say week or so.”
Production has declined during the cold spell, in part because companies are trying to prevent spills, said North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness. North Dakota producers are used to the cold, but “20 below is a different level,” Ness said.
As of Wednesday morning, the state’s output was estimated to be down 650,000 to 700,000 barrels of oil a day, and 1.7 billion to 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day, said North Dakota Pipeline Authority Executive Director Justin Kringstad. By comparison, the state produced an average of 1.24 million barrels of oil per day and 3.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day in October.
Deadly toll
In Tennessee, health officials have confirmed at least 14 weather-related deaths. Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest public school system with about 100,000 students, canceled Thursday classes.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to seven Southern states, reported a preliminary all-time record for peak power demand Wednesday morning as the region dropped to an average of 4 degrees.