US Pipeline Company To Pay $35Mln In Penalties Over Spill Of Waste Water From Fracking

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2021) A US pipeline company will pay $35 million in criminal and civil penalties after 29 million gallons of waste water from fracking leaked into the environment for nearly five months, the Justice Department said in a press release.

"The Department of Justice today filed criminal charges under the Clean Water Act against Summit Midstream Partners LLC, a North Dakota pipeline company that discharged 29 million gallons of produced water from its pipeline near Williston, North Dakota, over the course of nearly five months in 2014-2015," the release said on Thursday.

The spill contaminated land, groundwater, and more than 30 miles of streams of the Missouri River, the release said, adding that it is possibly the largest inland spill in the history of the United States.

Environmental groups are vehemently opposed to fracking, which is the process of extracting fossil fuels, like oil and gas, from shale basins by injecting a mixture of water, salt, and thousands of toxic chemicals into the earth.

Environmentalists say the chemicals used are toxic pollutants that have been linked to cancer, mutations, and other adverse impacts on human health, and are destructive to aquatic life and ecosystems.