Flooding results in river oil leak

A storage tank has leaked oil into a Colorado river after becoming damaged in recent flooding. Around 7,500 gallons of oil leaked into the Cache la Poudre River, US, on Friday (June 20th) after high floodwaters caused a storage tank to dip down onto a bank. The spill is no longer ongoing but has contaminated vegetation around a quarter-of-a-mile downstream from the site.

The Noble Energy storage tank's valve was damaged when the tank shifted causing the release of the oil. Crews are working to cleanup the oil from the riverbanks using absorbent materials and vac-trucks. According to officials, the leak has not contaminated any drinking water.

The leak was reported to the authorities by the energy firm as soon as it was discovered. Before the spill was stopped, the tank released all of its contents into the river. It is not yet known to what extent the leak will impact the local environment. 

To prevent any further leaks, another tank that is located near the damaged one has been completely drained by Noble Energy. There is no indication that this second tank has been damaged by the floodwaters. Soil samples from along the affected area of river have been collected and will be analysed to assess the extent of the damage.

Previous spills in Colorado have been caused by flooding, including at least ten spills that occurred last autumn when heavy rainfall caused extensive damage to gas and oil tanks in the state. Around 13,500 gallons of oil spilled from several tanks near Platteville, while 5,255 gallons spilled from two tanks into the South Platte River.

The full extent of last year's spills are not known, but it is thought that around 43,000 gallons of oil and 18,000 gallons of wastewater from fracking were released during the extreme floods. Concerns have been raised that more flooding will be caused as climate change results in more extreme rainfall. This could cause damage to the current gas and oil infrastructure of the state.