August 2021 - 14

A LOOK BACK CASE FILES
Historic oil spill
in the North Platte
A ruptured pipe sent more than 359,000 gallons of oil
into the river near Glenrock
By Robert Gagliardi
M
ore than 40 years ago a stretch
of the North Platte River near
Glenrock ran black.
That was the lead sentence of
an article in the January 1981 issue of Wyoming
Wildlife.
It was about 12:55 a.m. when a 20-inch
diameter crude oil pipeline ruptured.
Approximately 359,184 gallons or 8,552
barrels of oil flowed into the North Platte
and traveled about 66 miles downstream to
Glendo Reservoir.
Two stories ran in the January 1981
magazine about this event - one by Wyoming
Game and Fish Department Wildlife Biologist
Larry Pate in Casper, who wrote department
personnel were on the shoreline of the river
within hours of finding out about the spill.
" By the evening of (April 8), it became
evident a large-scale wildlife rescue would have
to be initiated as soon as possible, " Pate wrote.
A Game and Fish employee carries a bird covered in oil after an oil spill in the North Platte River near Glenrock in 1980.
(Photo by LuRay Parker/WGFD)
14 | August 2021
" A large number of birds, primarily waterfowl,
have been observed soaked with oil and were
unable to maneuver.
" On the mornings of (April 9 and 10)
additional Game and Fish personnel and
equipment were mobilized for the operation.
Prior to the influx of department personnel,
volunteer help from Casper, Douglas and
Glenrock was utilized to search the riparian
habitat from the spill site to below the Dave
Johnston Power Plant for immobilized
wildlife. "
By early May there were published reports
that estimated 95 percent of the oil that spilled
into the river was recovered, but a lot of damage
was done. The known casualties included 1,752
muskrats, 109 ducks, 183 goose eggs, 19 geese,
four beavers and one raccoon.

August 2021

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