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Dateline: Valley City, 2018 |
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
Mark Matson
Valley City, N.D.
Oil Spill in Eastern North Dakota (AP 2018)
(AP-2018) -- Oil continued to spill into the Sheyenne River from a rupture in the oil pipeline located near the Rainbow Bridge in eastern Valley City, N.D. The City Park has been closed for health concerns while local officials search for ways to contain the problem before it reaches downstream communities such as Fargo, Grand Forks and Winnipeg, Canada.
Company officials cite the failure of using iron-based/concrete mix in duct work near river systems. This mixture was cheaper to use (but more susceptible to rusting, corrosion and decay than its chromium/concrete counterpart), but was allowed at the time of the pipeline’s construction back in 2009.
Company officials state that they are working “around the clock” to isolate and contain the spill while working to ease local citizens’ environmental concerns.
Does it sound far-fetched? We tend to think of oil spills happening in the Gulf of Alaska or off the west coast of the United States, but not in our own backyards. It can happen here and might very well in the near future. As sure as iron oxidizes and turns to rust when coming in contact with water, and as surely as water runs downhill, it “will” happen. If you build it, build it right. We all have the right to clean water.
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