BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Environmental regulators in North Dakota have signed an agreement with the federal government that allows companies to avoid fines by self-reporting certain minor infractions, but not if they have potentially caused serious environmental damage. The infractions could include companies forgetting to submit paperwork or neglecting to secure a necessary permit for a ... Read More

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. taxpayers could face potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs from abandoned oil and gas wells on public lands, a government watchdog agency said Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office said in a report that it identified almost 2,300 wells that have not produced oil and gas since 2008 and have not been reclaimed. The report said ... Read More

Golden Valley-based Mortenson has been selected by Xcel Energy to build a new $740 million wind farm in Colorado, one of Mortenson’s largest renewable energy projects to date. Mortensen will build the Cheyenne Ridge Wind Project, a 500-megawatt capacity wind farm on about 100,000 acres in eastern Colorado. Mortenson, a multi-purpose builder whose projects include U.S. Bank Stadium, is one of ... Read More

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's Health Department for the second time this decade is pledging to provide easily accessible information on oilfield and agriculture-related spills, a move that comes after a liquid natural gas pipeline leak that was much bigger than publicly reported and could take another decade to clean up. According to records obtained by The Associated Press, the ... Read More

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A 2015 pipeline spill of liquid natural gas in western North Dakota initially reported as just 10 gallons is at least hundreds of thousands of gallons larger and may take another decade to clean up, state health officials said Tuesday. Oklahoma-based Oneok Partners LP reported the 10-gallon spill of natural gas liquids, or "condensate," from a pipeline at its Garden Creek ... Read More

Aug. 20--An Ontario construction company, Sherman Sales, has been fined nearly $20,000 for violations that may have contributed to the death of two men in a trench in April. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted the investigation after Javier Ortega Jr., 59, of New Plymouth, and Arcenio Carrillo, 51, of Vale, Oregon, died in the New Plymouth trench on April 10. OSHA found ... Read More

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Health Department's acknowledgment this week that a 2015 pipeline leak of liquid natural gas is hundreds of thousands of gallons larger than reported raises questions about how many other spills and leaks are underreported — and state officials were not immediately able to answer Wednesday. State Environmental Quality Chief Dave Glatt said the agency does ... Read More

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Native American tribe leading the fight against the Dakota Access oil pipeline wants a judge to resolve all legal challenges to federal permits issued for the project. The Standing Rock Sioux filed a motion for summary judgment in federal court Friday. The tribe argues the $3.8 billion project needs to be shut down until the government has conducted a thorough ... Read More