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Keystone Pipeline Leaks More Than 5,000 Barrels of Oil Keystone Pipeline Leaks About 5,000 Barrels of Oil
(35 minutes later)
More than 5,000 barrels of oil spilled from the Keystone pipeline on Thursday in South Dakota, sending cleanup crews and emergency workers to the remote northeast portion of the state. Roughly 5,000 barrels of oil, or about 210,000 gallons, spilled from the Keystone pipeline on Thursday in South Dakota, sending cleanup crews and emergency workers to the remote northeast portion of the state.
The spill of more than 210,000 gallons, near Amherst, S.D., comes just days before regulators in neighboring Nebraska decide whether to grant the final permit needed for construction to begin on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would be operated by the same company. An announcement in Nebraska is expected on Monday. The spill, near Amherst, S.D., comes just days before regulators in neighboring Nebraska decide whether to grant the final permit needed for construction to begin on a different pipeline proposal, the Keystone XL, which would be operated by the same company. An announcement in Nebraska is expected on Monday.
TransCanada, the pipeline company, said in a statement that the leak was detected around 6 a.m. local time on Thursday. That portion of the pipeline “was completely isolated within 15 minutes,” the company said, and the pipeline was shut down. The pipeline company, TransCanada, said in a statement that the leak was detected around 6 a.m. local time on Thursday. That portion of the pipeline “was completely isolated within 15 minutes,” the company said, and the pipeline was shut down. The cause of the leak was under investigation.
“TransCanada appreciates the collaborative support of local officials, emergency response personnel and commissioners in Marshall County, as well as the landowner who has given permission to access land for assessment, identification and cleanup activities,” the statement said. An official at the sheriff’s office in Marshall County, S.D., said she could not answer questions about the spill and referred calls to TransCanada. A spokesman for the South Dakota Department of Public Safety also declined to comment.
But opponents of Keystone XL quickly cited the spill as evidence of the risks posed by such pipelines, and urged Nebraska regulators to take note. “TransCanada appreciates the collaborative support of local officials, emergency response personnel and commissioners in Marshall County, as well as the landowner who has given permission to access land for assessment, identification and cleanup activities,” the company said in its statement.
A photo of the spill posted to the company’s Twitter account showed a large, darkened area in a field. The Keystone pipeline is part of a 2,687-mile system that carries crude oil from Alberta to several points in the United States, including Illinois and Oklahoma.
A reporter for The Aberdeen American News at the scene of the spill said on Twitter that the area was blocked off by emergency vehicles on Thursday night.
Opponents of Keystone XL, which is proposed to run about 1,100 miles and would become part of this same pipeline system, quickly cited Thursday’s spill as evidence of the risks posed by such pipelines, and urged Nebraska regulators to take note.
“We’ve always said it’s not a question of whether a pipeline will spill, but when, and today TransCanada is making our case for us,” Kelly Martin of the Sierra Club said in a statement. “This is not the first time TransCanada’s pipeline has spilled toxic tar sands, and it won’t be the last.”“We’ve always said it’s not a question of whether a pipeline will spill, but when, and today TransCanada is making our case for us,” Kelly Martin of the Sierra Club said in a statement. “This is not the first time TransCanada’s pipeline has spilled toxic tar sands, and it won’t be the last.”
Thursday’s episode is one of several major pipeline spills in recent years. More than a million gallons leaked from a pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010, and 50,000 gallons of oil gushed into the Yellowstone River in Montana in 2015, contaminating drinking water there.
Oil pipelines have faced greater scrutiny since thousands of protesters gathered near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota last year to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. The site of Thursday’s spill was near the boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe.
Dave Flute, the tribal chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, said he was contacted early Thursday afternoon by emergency management services and told that there was a “substantial leak” in the pipeline.
“We are monitoring the situation as this leak is adjacent to our reservation,” Mr. Flute said in a statement. “We do not know the impact this has on our environment at this time but we are aware of the leak.”