After 2 years of negotiations with the ND Department of Health, NWLA and other stakeholders have come to an agreement on guidelines for saltwater spill remediation. The guidelines can be found below. This is a huge victory for NWLA and landowners as the establishment of saltwater remediation guidelines advances the protection of soil, water, and private property rights in ND.
Areas impacting remediation that have been written within the guidelines include re-vegetation, long-term liabilities, relationships of soil factors, and the stakeholders involved with the remediation process. The guidelines also require landowners to be continually updated throughout the remediation process. The goal of the remediation guidelines is to return damaged soil to pre-damage condition, meaning that landowners will be able to sow and harvest the same crops after the spill as they were before the spill.