Contaminated Fort Peck area cut off from water

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – A pipeline failure has cut off the water supply to about two dozen homes in a contaminated area of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, leaving residents without drinking and bath water for more than three weeks.

The pipeline from Poplar's water supply system to the homes north of the city has been out of service since May 13, said Deb Madison, the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes' environmental program manager.

The 23 homes have received the piped water since 2005, after the Environmental Protection Agency ordered three oil companies to build the line because of a spreading underground plume of contamination from the East Poplar oil field.

The primary source of contamination is brine – salty water with elevated levels of metals and toxins, including benzene and toluene.

The water pipeline has had dozens of breaks since Murphy Exploration and Production Co., Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc. and Samson Hydrocarbons Co. built it, Madison said. The tribes believe the problems are due to poor installation and operation and that the oil companies should be forced to provide them with a reliable system.

The EPA is working with state officials to determine whether the line was improperly constructed or if there is another reason for the failure, said EPA spokeswoman Lisa McClain-Vanderpool.

“We are involved and aware of what's going on,” she said.

If it was built poorly, the EPA will use its 2004 order against the companies to enforce corrective action, McClain-Vanderpool said.

Meanwhile, the companies are providing bottled water to the homes. McClain Vanderpool was unable to say how much bottled water was being provided, but said 2004 order requires the companies to provide adequate supplies for the number of people in each household.

The EPA and USGS have been tracking the spread of the underground plume for decades. In December, it was found to have spread farther, with the salty wastewater reaching public wells for the first time.

The EPA said then the brine detected in the wells was at low levels and did not pose a human health risk.

The agency ordered the oil companies to support the monitoring of the water supplies that serve around 3,000 people in the Poplar area.