Eni Rock Flour #2 Drilling Mud Spill

Location: Rock Flour Well #2. The Rock Flour Prospect is located approximately 4 miles south of the Milne Point Road and Spine Road intersection, west of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
Time/Date: Eni Petroleum discovered the spill at 11:30 a.m., January 4, 2007, and reported the spill to ADEC at 12:00 p.m., January 4, 2007.
Spill Id: 07399900401
Product/ Quantity: Eni estimates 3,150 gallons (75 barrels) of water-based drilling mud. These fluids are from the upper portion of the well that was above any oil-bearing formation. As a result, no oil is present in the fluids.
Cause: The spilled fluids were placed in an ice-bermed storage area where the drilling mud would freeze and later be hauled to the grind and inject facility at Prudhoe Bay for disposal. Although the ambient air temperature was about -40°F, the fluids were sufficiently warm to melt through the ice sidewall and spill onto the snow covered tundra adjacent to the ice pad.