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ByJohnFlesher TheAssociatedPress CROSSROADS, N.M. Carl Johnson and son Justin, who have complained for years about spills of oil- field wastewater where they raise cattle in the high plains of New Mexico, stroll across a 1 -acre patch of sandy soil — lifeless, save for a scattering of stunted weeds. Five years ago, a broken pipe soaked the land with as much as 420,000 gallons of wastewater, a salty drill- ing byproduct that killed the shrubs and grass. It was among dozens of spills that have damaged the John- sons' grazing lands and made them worry about their groundwater. "If we lose our water," Justin Johnson said, "that ruins our ranch." Their plight illustrates a side effect of oil and gas pro- duction that has worsened with the past decade's drill- ing boom: spills of waste- water that foul the land, kill wildlife and threaten fresh- water supplies. An Associated Press analysis of data from lead- ing oil- and gas-producing states found more than 180 million gallons of waste- water spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflow- ing storage tanks and even deliberate dumping. There were some 21,651 individual spills. The numbers are in- complete because many re- leases go unreported. Though oil spills get more attention, wastewater spills can be more damag- ing. Microbes in soil eventu- ally degrade spilled oil. Not so with wastewater — also known as brine, produced water or saltwater. Unless thoroughly cleansed, salt- saturated land dries up. Trees die. Crops cannot take root. "Oil spills may look bad, but we know how to clean them up," said Kerry Sub- lette, a University of Tulsa environmental engineer. "Brine spills are much more difficult." In addition to extreme sa- linity, the fluids often con- tain heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury. Some ranchers said they have lost cattle that lapped up the liq- uids or ate tainted grass. "They get real thin. It messes them up," said Mel- vin Reed of Shidler, Okla- homa. "Sometimes you just have to shoot them." The AP obtained data from Texas, North Dakota, California, Alaska, Colo- rado, New Mexico, Okla- homa, Wyoming, Kansas, Utah and Montana — states that account for more than 90 percent of U.S. onshore oil production. In 2009, there were 2,470 reported spills in the 11 states; by 2014, the total was 4,643. The amount spilled doubled from 21.1 million gallons in 2009 to 43 million in 2013. Industry groups said waste is often recovered during cleanups, although some can soak into the ground. "You're going to have spills in an industrial so- ciety," said Katie Brown, spokeswoman for Energy In Depth, a research arm of the Independent Petro- leum Association of Amer- ica. "But there are programs in place to reduce them." Concentrated brine, much saltier than seawater, exists in rock thousands of feet underground. When oil and gas are pumped to the surface, the water comes up too, along with fluids and chemicals injected to crack open rock — the process known as hydraulic fractur- ing. Production of methane gas from coal deposits also generates wastewater, but it is less salty and harmful. The spills usually occur as oil and gas are channeled to metal tanks for separa- tion from the wastewater, and the water is delivered to a disposal site — usually an injection well that pumps it back underground. Pipe- lines, tank trucks and pits are involved. Equipment malfunctions or human error cause most spills, according to state re- ports reviewed by the AP. Though no full accounting of damage exists, the scope is sketched out in a sam- pling of incidents: • In North Dakota, a spill of nearly 1 million gallons in 2006 caused a massive die-off of fish and plants in the Yellowstone River and a tributary. Cleanup costs approached $2 million. Two larger spills since then scoured vegetation along an almost 2-mile stretch. • Wastewater from pits seeped beneath a 6,000- acre cotton and nut farm near Bakersfield, California, and contaminated ground- water. Oil giant Aera En- ergy was ordered in 2009 to pay $9 million to grower Fred Starrh, who had to re- move 2,000 acres from pro- duction. • Brine leaks exceeding 40 million gallons on the Fort Peck Indian Reserva- tion in Montana polluted a river, private wells and the municipal water system in Poplar. "It was undrink- able," said resident Donna Whitmer. "If you shook it up, it'd look all orange." Un- der a 2012 settlement, oil companies agreed to moni- tor the town's water supply and pay $320,000 for im- provements, including new wells. • In Fort Stockton, Texas, officials in February ac- cused Bugington Energy of illegally dumping 3 million gallons of wastewater in pastures. The Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District levied a $130,000 fine, alleging a threat to groundwater, but the com- pany hasn't paid, contend- ing the district overstepped its authority. The loudest whistle- blowers about spills are of- ten property owners, who must allow drilling access to their land if they don't own the mineral rights. "Most ranchers are very attached to the land," said Jeff Henry, president of the Osage County Cattle- men's Association in Okla- homa. "It's where we de- rive our income, raise our families." Some are reluctant to complain about an industry that is the economic back- bone of their communities. "If they treat us right, we're all friends of oil," said Mike Artz, a grower in North Dakota's Bottin- eau County who lost a five- acre barley crop in 2013 af- ter a saltwater pipeline rup- ture. "But right now, it's just a horse running without the bridle." Tessa Sandstrom of the North Dakota Petroleum Council said the industry is supporting research on spill prevention and land restoration. When spills do happen, she said, most are cleaned up within a year, with tainted soil cleansed or replaced. SALTY BYPRODUCT Drillingboombringsrisingnumberofwastespills PHOTOSBYJOHNFLESHER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Cattle rancher Melvin Reed stands inside a patch of land that was denuded by an oilfield wastewater spill near Shidler, Okla. Brine spills sap moisture from land and create a hard, crusty surface that rainwater can't penetrate, preventing plants from taking root and o en worsening erosion. Salty residue from spilled oilfield wastewater is shown on cropland in McKenzie County, N.D. By Seth Borenstein The Associated Press WASHINGTON A new but controversial study asks if an end is coming to the busy Atlantic hurricane sea- sons of recent decades. The Atlantic looks like it is entering in to a new qui- eter cycle of storm activity, like in the 1970s and 1980s, two prominent hurricane researchers wrote Monday in the journal Nature Geo- science. Scientists at Colorado State University, includ- ing the professor who pi- oneered hurricane sea- sonal prognostication, say they are seeing a localized cooling and salinity level drop in the North Atlan- tic near Greenland. Those conditions, they theorize, change local weather and ocean patterns and form an on-again, off-again cycle in hurricane activity that they trace back to the late 1800s. Warmer saltier produces periods of more and stron- ger storms followed by cooler less salty water trig- gering a similar period of fewer and weaker hurri- canes, the scientists say. The periods last about 25 years, sometimes more, sometimes less. The busy cycle that just ended was one of the shorter ones, perhaps because it was so strong that it ran out of en- ergy, said study lead author Phil Klotzbach. Klotzbach said since about 2012 there's been more localized cooling in the key area and less salt, suggesting a new, quieter period. But Klotzbach said it is too soon to be certain that one has begun. "We're just asking the question," he said. But he said he thinks the answer is yes. He says the busy cycle started around 1995 and probably ended in 2012; in 2005 alone, Ka- trina, Rita and Wilma killed more than 1,500 people and caused billions of dollars of damage. The quiet cycle be- fore that went from about 1970 to 1994 and before that it was busy from 1926 until 1969, he said. Klotzbach doesn't take into account where a storm hits, but how strong storms are and how long they last regardless of whether they make landfall. So even though no major hurri- cane hit the United States in 2010, its overall activity was more than 60 percent higher than normal. And just because it's a quiet sea- son doesn't mean a city can't be devastated, Klotzbach said. Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in an other- wise quiet 1992 season as a top-of-the-scale storm. Other scientists either reject the study outright or call it premature. "I think they're pretty much wrong about this," said MIT meteorology pro- fessor Kerry Emanuel, who also specializes in hurri- cane research. "That paper is not backed by a lot of ev- idence." Emanuel doesn't believe in the cycle cited by the re- searchers or the connec- tion to ocean temperature and salinity. He thinks the quiet period of hurricanes of the 1970s and 1980s is connected to sulfur pollu- tion and the busy period that followed is a result of the cleaning of the air. And Jim Kossin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said cooler water temperatures earlier this year might be due to Atlantic dust, and August temperatures there have risen. QUIETER CYCLE Study: Are we shi ing to fewer Atlantic hurricanes? ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE A man pushing his bicycle through flood waters near the Superdome in New Orleans a er Hurricane Katrina le much of the city under water. The Associated Press ANTIOCH,ILL. Several hun- dred police officers from around the country at- tended a funeral Monday for a suburban Chicago lieu- tenant shot and killed last week, and residents of the area turned out by the thou- sands to watch the hearse go by. Charles Joseph Glinie- wicz, who was 52 and on the cusp of retirement af- ter more than 30 years with the Fox Lake Police Department, was shot and killed shortly after he ra- dioed in that he was chas- ing three suspicious men on foot. His more than mile-long funeral procession wound through small-town Fox Lake and lakeside forests that were the focus of a manhunt for the still at- large suspects. Fox Lake is a close-knit village of around 10,000 people and located about 50 miles north of Chi- cago. Gliniewicz's wife, Mel, wore a police badge on a necklace at funeral services earlier at a high school au- ditorium in Antioch, her husband's hometown not far from Fox Lake. Mourn- ers walked by his flag- draped coffin, many hug- ging his wife and their four sons. Fox Lake's recently re- tired police chief recalled Gliniewicz's fondness for the phrase "embrace the suck," about dealing with difficult tasks. "Now we're doing it today," Michael Behan told the packed au- ditorium about Glinie- wicz's funeral. While most people run from danger, Gliniewicz ran toward it, Joliet Police Officer Rachel said. "Every day he put on his uniform and said, 'Send me,'" she said, a few away from Gliniewicz's open cas- ket. Gliniewicz, who also served in the U.S. Army, told dispatchers last Tuesday that three men ran into a swampy area and requested a second unit. He died from a gun- shot wound shortly after backup officers found him about 50 yards from his squad car. Attendees at the ser- vice included Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and his wife, Diana, both of whom also hugged Gliniewicz's wife and kids. ILLINOIS Hu nd re ds o f offi ce rs at f un er al f or s la in l ie ut en an t LAURA RAUCH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE A car moves along the Extraterrestrial Highway near Rachel, Nev., the closest town to Area 51. By Ken Ritter The Associated Press LAS VEGAS The U.S. Air Force is giving an ultima- tum to owners of a remote Nevada property now sur- rounded by a vast bomb- ing range including the su- per-secret Area 51: Take a $5.2 million "last best of- fer" by Thursday for their property, or the govern- ment will seize it. The answer: No, at least for now. The owners, who trace their mining and min- eral claims to the 1870s, include descendants of a couple who lost their hard- scrabble mining enterprise after the Air Force moved in in the 1940s. Nuclear tests then began in 1951, their mine mill mysteri- ously exploded in 1954 and they ran out of money to seek reparations from the government in 1959. "What they really want to buy is our property, our access rights and our view," said Joseph Sheahan, 54, who has led the fight with his cousin, Barbara Sheahan Man- ning, on behalf of about 20 property co-owners. Both live in Henderson, Nevada. "We prefer to keep our property, but it's for sale under the right price at the right conditions," Sheahan said. The two sides are far apart. And they know con- demnation proceedings would lead to a "fair mar- ket value" determination that could end up in court for a long time. The federal government graduallyencircledthemine property — totaling fewer than400acres—northwest of Las Vegas, making it a private island reachable to- day only by passing armed guards at security gate- posts. The surrounding se- cure 4,500-square-mile res- ervationfornucleartesting, military training and other research is almost twice the area of the state of Del- aware. "The land has become an increasingly greater safety and security risk as demand for test and train- ing opportunities have in- creased," the government said in an Aug. 28 news release describing the fi- nal offer. Ai r Fo rc e wa nt s ow ne rs to give up bombing site NEVADA We Don'tThink Cr emation Should Cost So much. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 7 A