Oil could soon start flowing again through a pipeline that was shut down in January after spilling 30,000 gallons of crude into Montana's Yellowstone River near Glendive.
Crews and federal inspectors are testing the integrity of a fifty-mile section of that pipeline. Bridger Pipeline spokesman Bill Salvin describes the re-starting process as, "slow, methodical, safe and designed to ensure that everything along the pipeline is working exactly as it needs to work."
The spill temporarily contaminated Glendive's water supply.
Workers have recovered about 18 barrels of the estimated 500 barrels that spilled into the river. Salvin predicts more will be collected as the river ice melts.
He says work will soon start to re-bury a 120-foot section of pipeline that crossed the Yellowstone River.
That's the exposed section that failed in January. It was buried about eight feet under the river. Salvin says it will now be buried roughly 30 feet deep.
The video below shows a March 10 flight over the spill area.