[colored_box color=green]January 23, 2015: Ariel photo looking down on ice-covered Yellowstone River as workers attempt to find and clean up an oil spill that occurred on January 17, 2015 near Glendive, MT from the Poplar Pipeline. EPA Photo.[/colored_box]

Mont. pipeline that leaked into Yellowstone River was broken at weld

A Montana pipeline that dumped 30,000 gallons of oil into the state’s Yellowstone River in January had been cracked at the site of an exposed weld, officials said.

The leaked oil swept downstream and contaminated the water supply of 6,000 residents in the nearby town of Glendive. Now the split 12-inch pipeline buried under the river will be sent to an Oklahoma laboratory for testing, said Tim Butters, pipeline safety administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation, to search for the cause of the split.

“There are a number of different scenarios,” Butters said. “Was it metal-related? Was it external-force-related? All of that needs to be looked at.”

The leaked pipeline and discovery prompted warnings nationwide to pipeline companies to watch out for spring flooding that could expose pipelines buried under rivers (Matthew Brown,Associated Press, April 8). — KS