2015 spill forces Department of Environmental Services to become more transparent

The Department of Environmental Quality is discussing ways to be more transparent with North Dakotans, following a miscommunication about a 2015 gas plant spill.

The leak at Oneok's Garden Creek gas Processing plant in Watford City was reported as a 10-gallon spill. However, the same report stated there was an unknown quantity of natural gas liquid that was also released.

Environmental Quality Director David Glatt says this caused confusion.

The Department is working on a way to provide people with more information on its website when spills happen.

“What we need to do is how do we tie all the reports we get, we get consultant reports, we get analytical reports from testing the air and water. How do we get that connected to those reports that are already on our webpage?” said Glatt.

Glatt says the Department is looking at ways to collect the public's opinions.

Every spill is still investigated within 24 hours to determine heath and environmental impact.