FX Energy to plug wells at site of NW Mont. spill

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An FX Energy Inc. executive says the company plans to permanently shut down two oil wells in northwestern Montana where a spill was recently discovered to have spread nearly a mile before reaching Cut Bank Creek.

Vice President Andy Pierce said today that the company is filing notice with the Blackfeet Indian tribe that FX Drilling Co. will plug the small wells on the reservation and dig up the connecting line that spilled up to 840 gallons of crude.

A neighboring landowner reported finding oil July 12, a month after the company had discovered the spill and fixed the line. An environmental response team says the oil had traveled nearly a mile down a ravine, soiling the ground and filling pools of spring-fed water before escaping into Cut Bank Creek.