About 150 miles from where thousands have protested for months that the Dakota Access pipeline could threaten a Sioux tribe’s water supply, a pipeline in the western part of North Dakota has spilled more than 130,000 gallons of oil into a creek, state officials said.
In all, the Belle Fourche pipeline lost 4,200 barrels of crude oil, or more than 176,000 gallons, before operators shut it down
The Associated Press reported the company has declared 36 other spills since 2006, totaling more than 320,000 gallons of petroleum products.
The area is west of where the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies have fought construction on the Dakota Access pipeline, which had been expected to cross under Lake Oahe, a plan that is now on hold. The Sioux have argued that a pipeline rupture could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred lands.
