Neighbors Concerned Over Lasting Effects Of NW OKC Oil Spill

A pipeline rupture that sent crude oil into the air and onto the ground caused concern for those who live nearby.

The rupture happened near NW 178th and Portland, next to a new housing addition called The Grove. Neighbors say they didn’t like what they were seeing outside their back doors.

“I normally like the view of the sunflowers but not today,” said Alice Busch, whose property backs up to where the oil spill occurred.

Busch didn’t like the view because on Monday, that view from her back yard was polluted with a fountain of black oil. “Just oil pouring out of the ground,” she said. “I'm wondering what I need to be doing to protect my house and my belongings.”

So, she turned on her water sprinklers. “Just to keep the ground wet just in case,” she said.

Busch said the oil didn’t make it to her backyard but got close. Her husband shot video from his phone and warned their neighbors. “You can see the oil just going, and going, going, and it's going right there behind your house guys,” you could hear him saying on cell phone video.

We talked to other people in the neighborhood who also watched the scene from their yards.

“It's probably blowing 30 feet in the air,” said Steve Taylor, who lives nearby. “I was concerned at first because it was flowing towards my house but when I got on the mound and saw the dyke, I knew they had it under control.”

As crews work to cap the leak, these neighbors still have questions about the lasting effects of the oil that did escape. “Just the environment,” Busch said. “I mean how's it going to affect my water you know and us personally.”

“Oh, it's going to take days because all that dirt is contaminated and it needs to come out and depending how far down that seeped in the ground, I don't envy who is responsible,” Taylor said.

Officials on scene said there is no immediate threat to those who live nearby, but the cleanup could take months.