Nowata Water Supply Back to Normal.

NOWATA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 1998--Late Thursday, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality allowed the town of Nowata to bring its water system back on line.

The city's water supply was interrupted Wednesday as result of an oil spill on the Verdigris River.

In a meeting with Farmland officials late today, Nancy Shipley, Nowata City Manager said, "By tomorrow morning everything will be back to normal. Water has been repeatedly tested by the city and has met all EPA drinking water quality standards."

Throughout the day Farmland provided Nowata more than 60,000 gallons of water. During the meeting Shipley informed Farmland that this was no longer necessary.

Rick Laurentius, Farmland's Coffeyville refinery plant manager, told Shipley one lane of traffic over the U.S. Highway 60 bridge will be re-opened by 6 a.m. Friday. The bridge was closed to accommodate the clean up efforts. Oklahoma Department of Transportation will manage the traffic flow.

"Farmland will continue the clean up effort until the job is done," Laurentius said. "We have been working aggressively since Tuesday night, deploying specially designed equipment to recover the oil."

Environmental experts are continuing to monitor potential environmental impact. "I've been up and down the river checking the banks and have been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers. We haven't seen any wildlife affected. That's a good sign," said Jeff Brown, Nowata County Game Warden.

Farmland Industries, Inc., Kansas City, Mo., is the largest farmer-owned cooperative in North America, with 1,500 local cooperative members owned by nearly 600,000 farmers.