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Kansas oil spill is biggest in Keystone history, federal data says A ruptured
pipeline northwest of Kansas City dumped about 588,000 gallons of oil into a
creek running through rural pastureland, throwing operator TC Energy's federal
permit into question.


ENERGY


KANSAS OIL SPILL IS KEYSTONE PIPELINE'S BIGGEST EVER, ACCORDING TO FEDERAL DATA

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December 10, 20221:53 PM ET

The Associated Press

Enlarge this image

In this photo taken by a drone, cleanup continues in the area where the ruptured
Keystone pipeline dumped oil into a creek in Washington County, Kan., on Friday.
DroneBase via AP hide caption

toggle caption
DroneBase via AP


In this photo taken by a drone, cleanup continues in the area where the ruptured
Keystone pipeline dumped oil into a creek in Washington County, Kan., on Friday.

DroneBase via AP

TOPEKA, Kan. — A ruptured pipe dumped enough oil this week into a northeastern
Kansas creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, becoming the largest
onshore crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all the previous ones
on the same pipeline system combined, according to federal data.

The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in
Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was
the biggest in the system's history, according to U.S. Department of
Transportation data. The operator, Canada-based TC Energy, said the pipeline
that runs from Canada to Oklahoma lost about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons.

The spill raised questions for environmentalists and safety advocates about
whether TC Energy should keep a federal government permit that has allowed the
pressure inside parts of its Keystone system — including the stretch through
Kansas — to exceed the typical maximum permitted levels. With Congress facing a
potential debate on reauthorizing regulatory programs, the chair of a House
subcommittee on pipeline safety took note of the spill Friday.



A U.S. Government Accountability Office report last year said there had been 22
previous spills along the Keystone system since it began operating in 2010, most
of them on TC Energy property and fewer than 20 barrels. The total from those 22
events was a little less than 12,000 barrels, the report said.

"I'm watching this situation closely to learn more about this latest oil leak
and inform ways to prevent future releases and protect public safety and the
environment," Democratic U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., of New Jersey, tweeted.

TC Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the spill has been
contained. The EPA said the company built an earthen dam across the creek about
4 miles downstream from the pipeline rupture to prevent the oil from moving into
larger waterways.

Randy Hubbard, the county's emergency management director, said the oil traveled
only about a quarter mile and there didn't appear to be any wildlife deaths.

The company said it is doing around-the-clock air-quality checks and other
environmental monitoring. It also was using multiple trucks that amount to giant
wet vacuums to suck up the oil.

Past Keystone spills have led to outages that lasted about two weeks, and the
company said it still is evaluating when it can reopen the system.



The EPA said no drinking water wells were affected and oil-removal efforts will
continue into next week. No one was evacuated, but the Kansas Department of
Health and Environment warned people not to go into the creek or allow animals
to wade in.

"At the time of the incident, the pipeline was operating within its design and
regulatory approval requirements," the company said in a statement.

The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone pipeline carries thick, Canadian tar-sands oil to
refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, with about 600,000 barrels moving
per day from Canada to Cushing, Oklahoma. Concerns about spills fouling water
helped spur opposition to a new, 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline, and the
company pulled the plug last year after President Joe Biden canceled a permit
for it.


INAUGURATION DAY: LIVE UPDATES


BIDEN ORDER BLOCKS KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

Environmentalists said the heavier tar sands oil is not only more toxic than
lighter crude but can sink in water instead of floating on top. Bill Caram,
executive director of the advocacy Pipeline Safety Trust, said cleanup even
sometimes can include scrubbing individual rocks in a creek bed.

"This is going to be months, maybe even years before we get the full handle on
this disaster and know the extent of the damage and get it all cleaned up," said
Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club at the Kansas Statehouse.

Pipelines often are considered safer than shipping oil by railcar or truck, but
large spills can create significant environmental damage. The American Petroleum
Institute said Friday that companies have robust monitoring to detect leaks,
cracks, corrosion and other problems, not only through control centers but with
employees who walk alongside pipelines.

Still, in September 2013, a Tesoro Corp. pipeline in North Dakota ruptured and
spilled 20,600 barrels, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.

A more expensive spill happened in July 2010, when an Enbridge Inc. pipeline in
Michigan ruptured and spilled more than 20,000 barrels into Talmadge Creek and
the Kalamazoo River. Hundreds of homes and businesses were evacuated.



The Keystone pipeline's previous largest spill came in 2017, when more than
6,500 barrels spilled near Amherst, South Dakota, according to a U.S. Government
Accountability Office report released last year. The second largest, 4,515
barrels, was in 2019 near Edinburg, North Dakota.

The Petroleum Institute said pipelines go through tests before opening using
pressures that exceed the company's planned levels and are designed to account
for what they'll carry and changes in the ground they cover. An arm of the U.S.
Department of Transportation oversees pipeline safety and permitted TC Energy to
have greater pressures on the Keystone system because the company used pipe made
from better steel.

But Caram said: "When we see multiple failures like this of such large size and
a relatively short amount of time after that pressure has increased, I think
it's time to question that."

In its report last year to Congress, the GAO said Keystone's accident history
was similar to other oil pipelines, but spills have gotten larger in recent
years. Investigations ordered by regulators found that the four worst spills
were caused by flaws in design or pipe manufacturing during construction.

TC Energy's permit included more than 50 special conditions, mostly for its
design, construction and operation, the GAO report said. The company said in
response to the 2021 report that it took "decisive action" in recent years to
improve safety, including developing new technology for detecting cracks and an
independent review of its pipeline integrity program.

The company said Friday that it would conduct a full investigation into the
causes of the spill.

The spill caused a brief surge in crude prices Thursday. Benchmark U.S. oil was
up more modestly — about 1% — on Friday morning as fears of a supply disruption
were overshadowed by bigger concerns about an economic downturn in the U.S. and
other major countries that would reduce demand for oil.



The pipeline runs through Chris and Bill Pannbacker's family farm. Bill
Pannbacker, a farmer and stockman, said the company told him that the issues
with the pipeline there probably will not be resolved until after the Christmas
and New Year's holidays.

The hill where the breach happened was a landmark to locals and used to be a
popular destination for hayrides, Pannbacker said.

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