Spill, Baby, Spill

North Dakota’s oil boom has been a major bust for the state's environment. Since drilling on the Bakken shale formation took off in 2004, the number of oil wells in the state has increased some 200 percent. The number of spills? Up 650 percent. Last year, there was one environmental incident—including spills, leaks, fires, and blowouts—for every six wells. Under a strikingly lax regulatory system, the companies responsible for the incidents pay only a tiny percentage of the damages, if at all. New York Times