Keystone Pipeline has history of spills, fines

Federal regulators issued warnings repeatedly about the Keystone pipeline, even before it failed again and dumped 14,000 barrels of oil in northern Kansas.

By

State News

December 15, 2022 - 12:56 PM

TC Energy response staging area on Dec. 10, 2022, in Washington County, Kansas. Photo by (TC Energy Corporation)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures.

But despite a history of warnings and large spills, the Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — of oil in northern Kansas. It’s the largest spill since the pipeline began operations about a decade ago.

After more than 20 spills, the crude oil pipeline’s Canadian owner, TC Energy, has paid just over $300,000 fines. That’s 0.2% of the more than $111 million in property damage it has caused. That doesn’t include the damage from its latest spill, which has yet to be totaled.

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