N.D. Stops Saltwater on Roads, for Now

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The state has stopped splashing roads with saltwater left over from oil production, at least until it gets results from a laboratory checking the wastewater for contamination, officials said Thursday.

The state Health Department learned last week, after questions from The Associated Press, that the Transportation Department had been using oil well wastewater, up to 10 times saltier than sea water, as a de-icer in parts of North Dakota since the late 1960s.

Environmentalists worry it may have hurt wetlands and water supplies. The state chapter of the Sierra Club has not found other states that spread the wastewater as North Dakota has.

The state Industrial Commission is looking into the practice, said Don Canton, a spokesman for Gov. John Hoeven.

"We're looking at whether there was a lapse in permitting, a lapse in proper application or a lapse in the law," Canton said.

The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring the state's actions, said Diane Sipe, an agency spokeswoman in Denver.

State transportation director Francis Ziegler said a sample of the oil well wastewater has been sent to a Minnesota lab for an analysis. He said the department stopped using the wastewater on roads this week, after the practice came under scrutiny. He would not say if the department intends to resume using the wastewater on roads.

"We suggested that they stop but we haven't required it," said Dennis Fewless, the Health Department's water quality director.

Transportation officials said tens of thousands of gallons of the oil well wastewater are used on North Dakota roads each year, and crews have not seen any harmful effects from it. The state gets it free from oil companies, which otherwise would have to pay to dispose of it in underground wells.

John Edward Corrent, the owner of a Salt Lake City-based company that processes oil well wastewater, said testing one water sample "is not representative of squat," since the state used wastewater from many wells.

North Dakota law requires that anyone in possession of any oil field fluid -- including saltwater -- must keep complete and accurate records of it. Failure to do so is a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

"I don't think we have real specific records," said Ziegler, of the transportation department.