North Dakota Wants Answers on Ruptured Tesoro Pipeline Inspections

North Dakota officials are trying to determine if Tesoro Corp. knew about potential problems with a pipeline that leaked more than 20,000 barrels of crude oil in a wheat field in the northwestern part of the state.

Environmental health chief Dave Glatt says regulators want to know more about inspections conducted before the spill reported by a farmer on Sept. 29

Tesoro tells The Associated Press that the San Antonio, Texas-based company inspected the pipeline about two weeks before the spill was reported. But the company says it didn’t receive test results until after the leak was discovered.

Glatt says Tesoro hasn’t shared test results with the state. He says the state will make a formal request to obtain them but cleanup of 7.3-acre area is the top priority.