121 salt water leaks from Sask. oil industry since start of 2017

Saline water used in the process of oil production has leaked from flowlines and pipelines in Saskatchewan more than 120 times since the beginning of 2017, according to the Ministry of Energy and Resources.

Last Wednesday, Husky Energy discovered a breach in one of its salt water lines had leaked an unknown quantity of salt water into the ground.

It happened on a Saskatchewan farm near Turtleford, northwest of Saskatoon.   

Aerial photographs show a wedge of dead trees and vegetation where the leak appears to have travelled downhill.

According to the ministry, 121 incidents involving the release of produced water from a flowline or pipeline have been reported since the beginning of last year. Of those, three came from Husky Energy.