WILLISTON, N.D. (KUMV) – Last week, Continental Resources said more than 73,000 barrels of produced water leaked into a creek northeast of Williston.

Officials with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality say that kind of leak is much worse for the environment than an oil spill.

Produced water is a byproduct of oil production and is separated during extraction.

Bill Suess, the spill investigation program manager, said the water is very salty, which can kill off grass and aquatic life should it leak. He added that produced water can also be harder to clean up.

“I’ve often said I’d take a hundred oil spills over a produced water spill any day. It does a lot of damage to the soil, and it really takes a lot of effort to get that soil back producing and healthy again,” said Suess.

Suess said the investigation and clean up are ongoing.

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