Water used in oil recovery in North Dakota spilled

Two thousand barrels of water used during oil recovery was spilled at a site in southwest North Dakota, the state's Department of Health said.

The North Dakota Department of Health said it was notified of the release from Denbury Onshore, which had no statement of its own on the incident.

"The spill occurred as a result of a leak in the flow line," the Department of Health said in a statement Tuesday. "Most of the water has soaked into the soil and a dike will be constructed to control runoff."

About 20 barrels of oil and water spilled into a small stream in Williams County last week, the state said. Some of the liquids have been recovered and responders have placed materials along the stream bed to absorb any residual oil.

In early June, two separate spills released about 1,000 barrels of oil.

Production from the Bakken reserve area in the state makes it the No. 2 oil producer after Texas. Its rise as a shale oil producer has coincided with a series of energy-related accidents.

Pipeline company Tesoro Logistics reported 20,000 barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline in Tioga, N.D., in October, one of the largest oil spills on land in U.S. history.