Trucks and workers are busy cleaning up an oil spill from the Keystone pipeline in rural North Dakota. The spill happened on Tuesday morning when an employee heard a loud bang and quickly shut down the pipeline. An aerial photo shows a large, dark pool of oil in a snowy field, with tire tracks nearby.
The company managing the pipeline, South Bow, estimates that around 3,500 barrels, or about 147,000 gallons, of crude oil spilled. This amount is roughly equal to the capacity of 16 tanker trucks. As of now, the entire Keystone system remains shut down while the cause of the spill is investigated.
The exact reason for the rupture is still unclear. Kristin Anderson, a spokesperson for the company, mentioned that they are looking into what caused the incident and how long repairs might take. Environmental analyst Paul Blackburn noted that this spill is significant, especially given the Keystone pipeline’s history of leaks. Since the Dakota Access pipeline began operations in 2017, the Keystone system has leaked nearly 1.2 million gallons of oil, while Dakota Access has had only a small fraction of that amount.
The pipeline, which is 2,700 miles long and runs from Alberta, Canada, to various refineries in the United States, was built in 2010. It carries heavy tar sands crude oil through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and down to Illinois and Texas. The company has stated that the pipeline was functioning within its design and regulatory requirements at the time of the rupture.
Experts say that several factors can stress underground oil pipelines. These include corrosive materials in the oil, temperature changes, and even movement from trains or construction above ground.
Currently, the spill is contained to an agricultural field. South Bow has deployed vacuum trucks to recover the oil and is monitoring air quality in the area. Myron Hammer, a local farmer whose land is affected, mentioned that he can smell the oil but hasn’t seen significant impacts on his farming yet. However, he will have to cancel plans to farm on about five acres of his land.
This incident occurred just two and a half years after another significant rupture in Kansas that released about 13,000 barrels of crude oil into a creek. That spill was attributed to a faulty weld in a pipe bend, which had been under stress since its installation.
As for gas prices, experts are divided on the potential impact. Some believe that the shutdown of the pipeline could lead to higher prices for gas and diesel in the Midwest, especially if refineries run low on crude oil. Others argue that refineries may have enough supply to buffer against immediate price increases.
Overall, the situation remains fluid as cleanup efforts continue and investigations into the cause of the spill unfold.