North Dakota
Environmental Incident Reports
North Dakota's spill records are the Environmental Incident Reports that the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) publishes through its Spill Investigation Program. DEQ's page says the reports "are available in two databases depending on when the incident occurred", then lists one system for incidents reported since January 1, 2021, managed through HazConnect, North Dakota's Unified Spill Reporting System, and two separate databases for 1975 to 2020.
In a Phase I ESA
ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill lists among its standard record sources. The federal counterpart of a state spill list is the emergency response record described on the ERNS page. North Dakota's incident records still matter, because DEQ says all spills in the state must be reported, with no minimum volume, and an incident report can be the only state record of a release that never became a cleanup case. Four details shape the search.
- Search both periods. DEQ says that when the Unified Spill Reporting System launched on January 1, 2021, historical records were not migrated. For a property with a long history, search the current system and the 1975 to 2020 databases.
- Before 2021, more than one agency took reports. DEQ's Environmental Incident Reports page says environmental incidents were reported to the Department of Emergency Services, DEQ and the Oil and Gas Division of the North Dakota Industrial Commission; its Data & Maps page names two, DEQ and the Oil and Gas Division. For that period, spills reported to DEQ are in the General Incidents database, which DEQ says includes non-oilfield incidents such as chemical spills, transportation accidents and other environmental releases. Spills reported to the Oil and Gas Division are in the Oilfield Incidents database, which covers oilfield releases including crude oil, brine and produced water. The pages read do not say where reports made to the Department of Emergency Services are kept.
- The oilfield data came second hand. DEQ says the Oil and Gas Division maintained its data independently, and that DEQ had read-only access to a portion of it and made it available to the public as received. DEQ's Data & Maps page says the Industrial Commission is the responsible authority on oilfield environmental incidents, and its Open Records page says DEQ does not maintain data for incidents that occur on oil field well pad sites. Both pages link the Oil and Gas Division.
- Old cases may still be moving. DEQ says the 1975 to 2020 databases continue to be updated for incidents that were still active at the time of the transition.
What makes an incident closed, and what closure means, is on the Spill Investigation Program page.
What the databases offer
DEQ says the current public access tool lets you search and view reported incidents by location, date, material type and responsible party. In the 1975 to 2020 databases, DEQ says clicking an Incident ID opens the full summary report as a PDF, and a search box finds incidents by any field, such as location, company name, material spilled or incident number. DEQ also publishes press releases on significant spill incidents.
Where to look a site up
- Incident Reports 2021 to Present, the Unified Spill Reporting System's public access tool.
- General Incidents 1975 to 2020 and Oilfield Incidents 1975 to 2020, linked from DEQ's Environmental Incident Reports page with instructions for using them.
- DEQ's Open Records page links the Department of Mineral Resources' Oil and Gas Division for oilfield records.
Getting the file
The older databases open a summary report for each incident. For the documents behind an incident, ask for the file. DEQ takes open records requests at DEQOpenRecords@nd.gov, on its General Request Form for general records. What to put in a request is on the Open Records Requests page.
Sources
North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown: