Meadowlark Midstream crude oil pipeline hearing to be held in Williston

BISMARCK - The North Dakota Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing regarding a crude oil pipeline owned by the company responsible for North Dakota’s largest saltwater spill in recent history. Meadowlark Midstream Co. and Epping Transmission Co. have submitted an application to operate a pipeline 14 miles long and 10 inches in diameter, along with associated facilities, according to a news release. The project will involve the conversion of 10 miles of existing gathering pipeline into a transmission line, construction of four miles of new pipeline and expansion of Meadowlark’s Epping Station. It will also include the addition of one above-ground storage tank with a capacity of approximately 55,000 barrels. The cost of the project is estimated at $18 million. The pipeline will transport crude oil from the Epping Station to the Little Muddy Creek Station, which is located approximately 10 miles northwest of Epping. A Meadowlark Midstream pipeline rupture was discovered on Jan. 6 near Williston. The break leaked almost 3 million gallons of saltwater into the Blacktail Creek, which reached the Little Muddy and Missouri Rivers. While the investigation is ongoing, state officials estimate the pipeline was leaking for 12 days before it was discovered. The cleanup will take at least five years, said Dave Glatt, chief of the environmental health section for the North Dakota Department of Health. The hearing for the crude pipeline is scheduled for 9 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, March 18, at the Ernie French Center in Williston. The building is located at the North Dakota State University Williston Research Center at 14120 Highway 2. Any comments from members of the public must be received at the hearing to be part of the record. People with concerns, questions or support for the project are encouraged to attend the hearing and present the information. In­formation received after the hearing will not be part of the official record and cannot be used as a basis for the commission’s decision unless certain additional procedures are followed.