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• 1 2017-12-04T10:59:32-08:00 Wastewater Spills 14 By: Nick Steinhofer image_header 2017-12-05T13:47:32-08:00

   

  In 2014, according to “Salting the Earth: The Environmental Impact of Oil and Gas Wastewater” by Lindsey Konkel,

  A broken pipe spilled more than 1 million gallons of wastewater produced by unconventional oil drilling into a steep ravine filled with natural springs and beaver dams on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The briny spill cut a brown swath across the North Dakota landscape, soaking into the soil and killing all vegetation in its path before it seeped into Bear Den Bay on Lake Sakakawea (Konkel A231).

  Wastewater is comprised of a mixture of water and other chemical substances and is used in the fracking process to force fissures open in the Earth so that oil may be extracted. That is its one and only purpose, and, after the job is done, it is no longer needed and is disposed of. However, the disposal of this wastewater is not always as perfectly executed as it should be. Konkel continues in her article stating,

  Between 2009 and 2014 more than 21,000 individual spills involving over 175 million gallons of wastewater were reported in the 11 main oil- and gas-producing states of Alaska, California, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming (Konkel A231).

  Obviously this brings forth the conclusion that not enough is being done to prevent these spills from happening. The transport and handling of the wastewater is not being executed as precisely as it should be. Instead of ensuring safe disposal, big oil companies are only worried about efficiency; primarily cost efficiency. However, when a spill occurs, it is not very cost efficient not only for the company involved, but also for all of the people living in the area and the government agencies involved in clean up.
  
  Works Cited:

  Konkel, Lindsey. "Salting the Earth the Environmental Impact of Oil and Gas Wastewater​ Spills." Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 124, no. 12, Dec. 2016, pp. A230-A235. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Nov. 2017.