Montana town brings in drinking water after oil spill

A small Montana town is trucking in fresh drinking water after an oil pipeline leaked into a river 9 miles upstream from its water supply.

About 20 to 30 Glendive residents reported a strange smell or taste in their water after this weekend’s spill in the Yellowstone River, spurring officials to shut off the town’s water intake Monday evening and truck in water, the Grand Forks Herald reported.

{mosads}Later, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said it found elevated levels of hydrocarbons in Glendive’s drinking water.

“This is a significant spill, and the coordination of various response activities at the spill site, the city of Glendive, and downstream locations will be a priority over the next several days,” the EPA told the Herald in a statement.

State officials said they notified water authorities in Sidney, Mont., and Williston, N.D., further downstream.

The Poplar pipeline, owned by Bridger Pipeline, leaked as much as 1,200 barrels of crude oil from the Bakken formation into the Yellowstone Saturday. The company promptly shut the pipeline down, but state officials saw oil dozens of miles downstream, the Herald said.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) declared a state of emergency after visiting the area Monday.

In addition to state and city officials, federal officials from the EPA, Department of Transportation, Fish and Wildlife Service and Coast Guard are involved in the response, according to the Herald.