Oil Companies Have Plan for Lake Spill Equipment

Oil Companies Have Plan for Lake Spill Equipment

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota
by Lauren Donovan, The Bismarck Tribune, N.D.

North Dakota's first oil and saltwater spill into Lake Sakakawea caught the industry unprepared for a lake cleanup, but that could soon change.

A group of oil well and pipeline owners was already making plans to spend $1 million on boats, booms, skimmers and ice-borne pumps for fast response to a lake accident when the first spill into the lake was reported April 2.

Petro-Hunt LLC says five barrels of oil and 100 barrels of saltwater escaped a pipeline rupture at well north of Keene, near the lake on the south side.

A committee of 12 well owners and three pipeline companies with wells and pipelines near the lake started talking after last summer's BP Deepwater well blowout in the Gulf.

Committee chairman Jack Braun, of Whiting Petroleum, one of the largest oil producers in the oil patch, said the recent spill into Lake Sakakawea could put plans on the fast track.

"My reaction (to the lake spill) was, 'Oh, no.' I was really disappointed. This is a black eye for the entire industry. It might encourage the committee to work faster," Braun said.

Most of the oil was recovered, but all the saltwater reached the lake, though diluted by running snow-melt.

Rep. Kenton Onstad, D-Parshall, said he's asked state oil regulators about the lack of a statewide plan in the event of a lake spill.

"What's the plan when a tanker driver from Texas slides around the curve (at New Town) and goes off the bridge? What's the plan for that?" he said.

He said oil wells could be sited a safe distance from the water and reach oil with long horizontal legs.

"Why play with disaster?" Onstad said. "So many wells are near water. There should be better precautions so that any major spill doesn't hit the lake."

The Dakota Resource Council, an environmental group, said the first lake spill is among eight reported spills in a year, and troubling because lake water is used for community drinking water and agriculture.

Braun said the companies recognize the weakness in the overall spill response plan and are voluntarily moving to make it stronger.

"Our goal is create a cooperative to maintain spill response equipment that's big enough to operate on the lake, or get oil under the ice," he said. "We recognize the potential danger and we want to voluntarily do what's right," Braun said.

Braun said the committee members identified more than 100 of their own wells and a "handful" of pipelines close to the lake, or on tributaries. "These have the potential to either spill directly into the lake, or into drainage to the lake," he said.

One oil pipeline is attached to the underside of the 4 Bears bridge at New Town, which spans the lake.

He said a lake accident is more likely to involve hundreds, not thousands of barrels. A possible scenario is loss of well control causing oil or mist to shoot out from the well, or a pipeline break, which could potentially be worse, he said.

Braun said the committee is looking into how to jointly own the equipment, where to store it and training. The committee will meet Thursday to review draft agreements, he said. Part of the discussion will be about sharing equipment with companies that aren't in on the purchase.

If it goes well, Braun said it's possible the equipment could be purchased within months.

He said spill prevention is engineered into well equipment, into the strength of pipes and valves, and maintained through inspections for corrosion and other problems.

By law, oil companies are required to have spill response plans. There are about 20 response trailers in the oil patch with personal protection, booms, absorbent pads, fencing, and the like for a land spill. None of that gets to oil out on the lake, and that presented a troublesome gap in the overall response plan, Braun said.

When an SM Energy oil well near Arnegard caught fire last month, specialized well control equipment was trucked from Texas and arrived four days later.

Braun said having lake response equipment in the oil patch means it could be on the water within hours. He said committee plans to purchase a couple of larger boats, capable of pulling up to 5,000 feet of oil-trapping boom, a couple of smaller work boats, two oil skimmers and possibly an air boat for working close to shore. An ice response would involve equipment to drill holes or trenches on the ice to accommodate pumps.

Onstad said he thinks state regulators need to give more thought to wells sited near the lake before there is a major spill.

"A double dike (around wells) is not good enough," he said.