BILLINGS, mont. — Workers recovered about 10,000 gallons of oil from a ruptured pipeline that spilled crude into the Yellowstone River and contaminated a Montana city’s drinking water.
An estimated 40,000 gallons is still in the river and will be difficult to extract because of a thick layer of ice.
The recovered oil was crude that was left in the pipeline after the breach.
Bridger Pipeline Co. spokesman Bill Salvin said Wednesday only a “very small” amount of oil has been siphoned from the river itself. Company officials and government regulators say most of the oil is thought to be within the first several miles of the spill site.
“What we’re working on is identifying places where we can collect more oil,” Salvin said. “The cleanup could extend for a while.”
Tom Livers, director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said he was concerned that when the ice breaks up in the spring, oil will spread farther downstream. The spill occurred just upstream of Glendive. Authorities are working to clean up the agricultural community’s water supply after cancer-causing benzene was detected at its water treatment plant.
Bridger Pipeline has committed to providing bottled water for Glendive.
