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Glendive Tap Water Expected To Be Declared Safe Today

Decontamination of Glendive’s water treatment system following Saturday’s oil spill into the Yellowstone River appears to be working. That’s according to the U-S Environmental Protection Agency’s Paul Peronard, who’s overseeing clean-up.

Glendive’s tap water was declared unsafe to drink Sunday after toxic benzene from the oil spill was found in it. Peronard says adjustments to the plant’s intake pipe in the river, and additional filtration mean the water could be declared safe as early as mid-day today.

Now, he’s asking for help from Glendive residents.

"We want folks to actually start running and using their tap water to sort of flush what was in their household system," Peronard said. "We will even want to encourage people to do start doing that before there’s a final clearance on the system."

Flushing household systems should help get rid of any lingering petroleum smell, Peronard says. He’s still waiting for final test results on water samples to come back before Glendive’s tap water can be declared safe to drink again.

Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.
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