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Montana Town Awaits Decision On Water Safety

Bob Sarver and his wife Melvina load water into their car trunk, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in Glendive, Mont. A cancer-causing component of oil has been detected in the Glendive drinking water supply, just downstream from a crude oil spill that entered the Yellowstone River. (Matthew Brown/AP)
Bob Sarver and his wife Melvina load water into their car trunk, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in Glendive, Mont. A cancer-causing component of oil has been detected in the Glendive drinking water supply, just downstream from a crude oil spill that entered the Yellowstone River. (Matthew Brown/AP)

People in the town of Glendive, Montana, are waiting to hear when they can begin drinking and cooking with town water drawn from the Yellowstone River.

Last weekend, a 1950s-era oil pipeline under the river ruptured, and while ice on the river has prevented the spread of some oil downstream, the extent of the spill may not be known for months.

It’s the second significant oil spill in Montana’s Yellowstone River in less than four years, in a region through which the controversial Keystone XL pipeline would pass if it’s approved.

Chad Knudson, publisher of the Glendive Ranger-Review newspaper, discusses the spill with Here & Now’s Robin Young. He says local support for the Keystone pipeline is unlikely to change.

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