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Contractors Clean Up Large Hydrochloric Acid Spill at Kingfisher County Oil and Gas Site

Joe Wertz / State Impact Oklahoma

Contractors worked through the weekend to clean up an acid spill at an oil and gas site near Hennessey in Kingfisher County. As StateImpact’s Joe Wertz reports, the spill could be the state’s largest related to fracking.

About 20,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid leaked from a tank into an alfalfa field last week, killing crops over a 500-foot long path. Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner:

"The area of contamination was bermed before the rains came to prevent anything from getting into the creek. And the water then that resulted from when the rains came, that has been pumped off and taken off site.”

To finish the cleanup, contractors will likely have to dig up and haul off 1,600 yards of contaminated soil. Hydrochloric acid is routinely used in oil and gas production. The cause of the spill and the role played by the oil and gas operator, Blake Production, is still under investigation.

Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state.
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