A spill of water-based drilling mud occurred at a Williams drilling site in western Flower Mound during the overnight hours Thursday, according to a release issued by the company.

An estimated 40 barrels of drilling mud was released at the Cummings C-West drill site while being transferred to a storage tank.

Vacuum recovery efforts collected more than this amount of free-standing liquid, given the localized rainfall, company officials said.

The spill did not affect water sources; public property was unaffected; and the response effort did not require the assistance of town resources, officials added.

Williams has reported the incident to the Town of Flower Mound and the Texas Railroad Commission, who are both investigating.

After town staff inspected the site and confirmed the spill was drilling mud, town officials told Williams that this spill would be classified as a discharge and would result in a fine.

The Cummings site is located north of FM 1171, east of Red Rock lane, south of Hawk Road, and west of Shiloh Road.

This afternoon, Williams temporarily halted all drilling activity at the site. This action is known as a “stand-down.”

A spill of 190 barrels of flowback water occurred at the same site on August 20. This is the fourth spill for Williams in the area this year.