A six-inch oil pipeline in North Dakota has sprung a leak.  The amount of oil spilled is unknown at this time.  The oil has entered Ash Coulee Creek, and the company, Belle Fourche Pipeline Company, has placed booms and a siphon dam across the creek to minimize future damage.

It’s surprising how often these leaks go unnoticed for long periods of time.  The companies promote their electronic sensors as safe and reliable, but well over half of all spills and leaks are discovered by people, not technology.  Even when they do get discovered, they sometimes don’t get fixed, such as this natural gas pipeline near Franklinville, New York.

Five days after the original news of the spill broke, it turns out the spill was over 176,000 gallons of crude.  That’s about 4,190 barrels.