Officials suggest pipeline company hid problems after spill

By MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. prosecutors suspect a Wyoming company of potentially concealing problems with a pipeline that broke in 2015 and spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude into the Yellowstone River. The spill fouled the water supply of Glendive, Montana and took months to clean up. Operator Bridger Pipeline told federal officials that the line had been adequately buried. But prosecutors say one survey indicated it was just beneath the surface of the ever-shifting river bottom. That would put it at greater risk of breaking. Bridger rejected the allegations as “conspiracy theories.” Prosecutors are pursuing a parallel case against a related company that spilled 600,000 gallons of crude in North Dakota in 2016.