Oil Companies To Pay $12.5 Million For Great Plains Spills

Belle Fourche Pipeline Co. and Bridger Pipeline LLC will pay a $12.5 million civil penalty to resolve claims over oil spills in North Dakota and Montana.

Belle Fourche’s Bicentennial Pipeline ruptured in Billings County in 2016, sending about 14,400 barrels of oil into waters in Western North Dakota. In its lawsuit, the federal government said that the spill was exacerbated by the company’s failure to detect it. Cleanup of the spill is ongoing.

Bridger’s Poplar Pipeline ruptured in 2015 where it crosses under the Yellowstone River near Glendive, in Eastern Montana. The company has already completed cleanup of the site. ...