CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — This year already is the worst for oil spills in Wyoming since at least 2009, after a series of accidents from the remote Powder River Basin to downtown Cheyenne.
The problem is a filthy side effect of Wyoming’s booming oil production.
State records obtained by The Associated Press show a storage tank and two pipelines owned by Casper-based Belle Fourche Pipeline spewed more than 76,000 gallons of crude in three separate spills in northeast Wyoming last spring.
In July, a thunderstorm damaged a storage tank at the HollyFrontier Refinery in Cheyenne, causing the tank to spill 70,000 gallons of crude.
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality officials didn’t notify the public about the spills, saying there was no threat to public safety. They say the spills have been cleaned up.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.