Corrective action order issued in North Dakota oil pipeline spill

BELFIELD, N.D. — A federal agency has ordered Belle Fourche Pipeline to improve leak detection, remediate any pipeline in unstable land areas and take other steps to protect the environment following an oil spill in a Little Missouri River tributary.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order to Belle Fourche, part of True Companies of Wyoming, stemming from its investigation into the spill discovered Dec. 5 by a landowner northwest of Belfield.

Although the cause of the spill is still under investigation, one theory is it's related to unstable conditions in the rugged Badlands terrain. The hillside where the pipeline break occurred is slumping and other indications of ground movement, which may have caused the pipeline to "experience compressive or bending forces within the slope failure," PHMSA said in the order.

The agency identified a 58-mile segment of the oil pipeline that traverses similar topography and ordered the company to conduct a risk assessment.

Read more: http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/state/4186469-corrective-action-order-issued-nd-oil-pipeline-spill