© AP Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Lauren Donovan
In this photo taken on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, white-suited workers wearing respirators clean up the illegal filter sock dump in an abandoned gas station in Noonan, N.D., near the Canadian border. Radiological readings were to be conducted to be sure the building and soil was back to normal.
In this photo taken on Wednesday, April 23, 2014, white-suited workers wearing respirators clean up the illegal filter sock dump in an abandoned gas station in Noonan, N.D., near the Canadian border. Radiological readings were to be conducted to be sure the building and soil was back to normal.
The Canadian company hired to clean up the largest dump found so far, located at an abandoned gas station in Noonan, also said that it suspects the soil at the site is contaminated and that samples were being analyzed.
The twin disclosures highlight a growing problem from North Dakota's booming oil development - illegal disposal of oil filter socks, which are tubular nets that strain liquids during the oil production process and contain low amounts of radioactive material. Health officials have said that radioactive filter socks increasingly are being found along roadsides, in abandoned buildings or in commercial trash bins - sometimes those of competing oil companies.
State Environmental Health Chief Dave Glatt said investigators are examining the new site north of Crosby - a town about five miles from the Canadian border - which was discovered late last week by Divide County Emergency Manager Jody Gunlock.
Gunlock said he found 15 garbage cans and about 25 bags full of the oil filter socks.
"So maybe one-fourth of what we found down in Noonan," Gunlock said, "But you know, it's still a significant amount and it's still an environmental problem."
