Great Idea: Eliminating Open Oil Waste Pits -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

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North Dakota is mulling a ban of oil waste pits amid a spate of toxic drilling discharges and an increasing number of migrating birds that have died by mistaking the polluted ponds for fresh water.

Lynn Helms, the director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said Thursday that regulations may be changed requiring oil companies to recycle liquid drilling wastes instead of dumping them in open pits.

The so-called closed loop system that would allow only dry material to be stored on site may be cheaper for companies in the long run, Helms said.

For investors, there are opportunities.