(Wind River Reservation, WY) – It’s been nearly nine months since the corroded flowline spilled roughly 34 barrels of water and oil into an unnamed tributary of the Wind River.
The leak was identified on April 10 at the Tribal-owned Steamboat Butte Oil Field, which is operated by private contractor MI3 Petroleum Engineering and overseen by the Wind River Energy Commission (WREC).
At the time, it was unclear what impacts the leak would have on the area and if it reached the Wind River through the tributary.
The fluid inside the field flowlines is 98% water and 2% oil, according to an April statement from WREC.
County 10 recently caught up with Kimberly Mazza, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Public Information Officer, who shared that the threat to the Wind River was removed a few days after the incident and that they have a remediation plan in place.
“Right now, overall, the remediation plan is to allow the hydrocarbons to naturally break down and for vegetation to recover,” she said. “And then the plan is to continue monthly monitoring, and that would be done by the Wind River Energy Commission or MI3, the company.”
County 10 reached out to the WREC and MI3 for comment but has not heard back as of this writing.