Problems
The Keystone Pipeline spills have caused significant damage to the environment and local communities. The spills have resulted in the contamination of soil, waterways, and wildlife habitats. The 2017 Keystone pipeline spill in South Dakota, for example, contaminated agricultural land and a nearby wetland. The spill affected the drinking water of nearby communities and led to the closure of schools in the area. Similarly, the 2019 Keystone pipeline spill in North Dakota contaminated an area of around 2,500 square yards. The spill affected a wetland and a nearby tributary of the Little Missouri River, which is a source of drinking water for several communities. The Keystone pipeline, which traverses 2,600 miles from western Canada through the central US, leaked an estimated 14,000 barrels of oil, more than half a million gallons, into a creek in Washington county, Kansas, on 7 December. The incident was the largest onshore oil spill since at least 2013, the Keystone pipeline’s third major spill in the last five years, and the largest since it began operating in 2010. The leak raised concerns from environmentalists due to the transfer of tar sands through the pipeline, which are more toxic than crude oil and can sink in water.
What caused the Keystone Pipeline leak?
The main causes of all Keystone Pipeline oil spills recorded in the period from 2010 to 2022 are pipeline damage
Solutions
Response to the Keystone Pipeline oil spill
Author: TC Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Association (PHMSA), Kansas Department of Health and Environment
TC Energy continues to progress our response efforts in Washington County, Kansas. We have entered Unified Command with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and continue to work in collaboration with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Association (PHMSA) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). We remain focused on the following response and recovery activities, including: A dedicated workforce exceeding 250 personnel, including third-party environmental specialists. The product remains contained and multiple vacuum trucks, booms, and additional resources are onsite as we continue the recovery process. Repair planning is also underway, as are shoreline assessments. Continuous air quality monitoring has been deployed and, at this time, there is no indication of adverse health or public concerns.
Gallery
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Timelines
2022
TC Energy shut down its Keystone pipeline after detecting a leak of 588,000 gallons into a creek near Washington, KS — about 20 miles south of Steele City, NE. “An emergency shutdown and response was initiated at about 9 p.m. CT on Dec. 7 after alarms and a pressure drop in the system, the company said in a release, adding booms were deployed to control downstream migration of the release.” PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to TC Energy re: Dec. 7 spill.
2019
February 06
Keystone pipeline spills 1,800 gallons in St. Charles County, Missouri. After metallurgical analysis of the spill’s cause: “The composite wrap was inadequately designed for the metal loss feature it was to protect, as the applicator’s interpretation of the feature as mechanical damage led to fewer wraps than corrosion given the naming convention used in the composite vendor’s software. Feature direct examination concluded blunt metal loss with no evidence of sharp edges or stress concentrators, and the feature root cause analysis determined the accelerated rate of corrosion was primarily caused by stray direct current interference and was subsequently repaired. The RCFA indicated the primary cause of the leak was a through-wall crack that exhibited signs of fatigue, initiated from localized stress concentrations in the irregular pitted surface of the repaired metal loss feature.” Of note: A 2015 investigation in the same county found Keystone pipe there had “suffered from corrosion so severe that it was worn through 95 percent in some places after being in service for less than two years. In one spot, inspectors found the pipeline was down to a metal layer just one third the thickness of a dime.” TransCanada’s (“TC Energy”) Keystone pipeline leaked at least 380,000 gallons of tarsands oil and toxic diluents that affected wetlands in northeastern North Dakota. No cause has yet been established. PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to TransCanada re: Oct. 30 spill.
2018
February 20
Keystone pipeline spills 15 gallons from a Pump Station in Steele City, Nebraska, blamed on “a leaking float control valve.”
2017
Keystone pipeline leaks 407,000 gallons on farmland near Amherst, South Dakota. Spill was originally underreported as 210,000 gallons, and was attributed to “the installation of a weight upon its construction in 2008” that is “used to keep pipelines in place and reduce the risk of damage to the line if water levels rise,” but instead “caused mechanical damage to the company’s corrosion-resistant coating, leading to the rupture.” PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to TransCanada re: Nov. 17 spill.
2016
Keystone pipeline leaks 16,800 gallons in Hutchinson County, South Dakota, cause found to be a “faulty girth weld,” the point of a transition weld connecting smaller and larger pipe together. TransCanada whistleblower and former company engineer Evan Vokes has repeatedly sounded the alarm about TransCanada’s use of transition welds. PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to TransCanada re: the April 2 spill. TransCanada announces plans to “dig up and replace sections of its Keystone pipeline found to not meet federal strength standards.” Keystone pipeline spilled 10 gallons at a Pump Station near Tina, Missouri.
2015
April
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made to PHMSA in 2013 returns documents uncovering an alarming rate of corrosion on TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline: “a section of the pipeline’s wall had corroded 95%, leaving it paper-thin in one area (one-third the thickness of a dime) and dangerously thin in three other places.” PHMSA did not disclose a cause for the corrosion at the time, saying it “might impact an ongoing compliance review the agency is conducting of TransCanada.”
2014
June 24
Keystone pipeline leaks 30 gallons in Nederland, Texas.
2013
March 07
Keystone pipeline leaks 15 gallons near Potwin, Kansas.
2011
Keystone pipeline leaks 10 gallons at a Pump Station near Andover, South Dakota. Spill blamed on “faulty seal.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 10 gallons at a Pump Station near Turney, Missouri after a “seal on a pump failed.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 15 gallons “from a vapor separator which caused an overflow” at a Pump Station near Cushing, Oklahoma. Then Keystone pipeline leaks 10 gallons from Rock Pump Station near Udall, Kansas “on a drain valve line possibly due to a leaky fitting.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 5 gallons from Ludden Pump Station near Brampton, North Dakota “due to equipment failure on a seal on a main pump.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 126 gallons at Seneca Pump Station in Nemaha County, Kansas, after “a seal on the #4 unit failed releasing crude oil onto the piping, the pump and the ground.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 16,800 gallons (400 barrels) at Ludden Pump Station onto private land in North Dakota. The spill spewed up 60 feet in the air “like a geyser” and was discovered by local rancher smelling it on his land; he’s still dealing with TransCanada over cleanup. The spill was caused by “a threaded connection on small diameter station piping at a 1-inch x 3/4-inch swaged nipple. Respondent performed metallurgical analysis of the nipple and identified the presence of cracks at the root of the thread likely as a result of over-torque during installation. Respondent determined that the cyclic bending stress fatigue due to normal operational vibration propagated the cracks to failure.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks unknown volume at Roswell Pump Station due to a “transmitter fitting leak” that “failed due to cyclical fatigue.” (This spill is only reported in the context of a separate Corrective Action Order related to the May 7th 16,800-gallon Keystone spill where the same cause “cyclical fatigue” was reported.) Then Keystone pipeline leaks 14,000 gallons after “valve failure” at Severance Pump Station in southeastern North Dakota, which saw “a 1/2-inch diameter nipple at the pressure transmitter manifold. Preliminary metallurgical testing provided by the Respondent of this nipple indicates cyclical fatigue.” PHMSA issues Corrective Action Order to TransCanada re: May 7 & May 29 leaks.
2010
Keystone pipeline leaks 2 gallons at Carpenter Pump Station in Clark County, South Dakota. Spill is blamed on a “leaking valve body.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 20 gallons at Roswell Pump Station in North Dakota blamed on “equipment failure.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 5 gallons near Freeman, South Dakota, “cause unknown.” Then Keystone pipeline leaks 10 gallons near Hartington, Nebraska after “a check valve on a pressure transmitter located on the suction side of a line pump stuck open.”