Recommendations for Reform of North Dakota's Produced Water Regulatory Program, Based on a Review of National Best Practices
Article from: OGEL 5 (2013), in Roundup of Articles
Introduction
Although recent produced water spills show the impact from the last decade's oil and gas boom in North Dakota, it is not a new problem. Scientific study of produced water toxicity dates to 1924. Produced water disposal has been a concern in North Dakota since at least 1979, when State Geologist Dr. Lee C. Gerhard wrote to Governor Art Link and the Industrial Commission requesting a study of the toxicity of drilling fluids and their disposal effects, in response to concerns expressed by western North Dakota landowners. Because North Dakota's most serious spills have come from produced ...