An energy company paid a $49,000 fine to the federal government for contaminating water on the
Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, The Bismarck Tribune reports.
Crestwood Equity Partners was accused of violating the Clean Water Act, according to
Environmental Protection Agency documents. The firm spilled one million gallons of brine water, a salty by-product of energy development, near
Lake Sakakawea in July 2014.
“Mother Earth is slowly dying back there,” Lisa DeVille, a tribal activist who serves as president of the
Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights, told The Tribune. “This brine, this wastewater, is killing her.”
The tribe plans to issue its own fine against Crestwood, the paper reported.
Since 2014, the company has been responsible for four brine spills on the
Fort Berthold Reservation.
"The discharge impacted both tribal trust and allotted lands in McKenzie County and waters of the U.S.," the
EPA's consent order in the case reads.
The consent order was signed on January 30.
Read More on the Story:
Fine ordered for 2014 Fort Berthold pipeline spill
(The Bismarck Tribune February 2, 2018)
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