Keystone Pipeline Resumes Operations After 14,000 Barrel Leak

Excavated and repaired section of the Cushing Extension in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 29, 2022. Courtesy TC Energy

Officials said a damaged portion of the Keystone Pipeline reopened Thursday after weeks of repairs and cleanup following a 600,000-gallon crude oil leak into a Kansas stream.

The pipeline, which carries oil from Canada to multiple U.S. states, shut down on Dec. 8 after spilling nearly 14,000 barrels of crude the day before at a segment of the system in Kansas, which forms part of the pipeline’s Cushing Extension.

It was considered one of the largest crude oil spills in the United States in nearly a decade.

Keystone Pipeline System Map showing restarted Cushing Extension in Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 29, 2022. Courtesy of TC Energy

The pipeline’s Canadian operator, TC Energy, said the Cushing Extension will follow plans authorized by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

“The Keystone Pipeline System is now operational to all delivery points. As always, we continue to monitor the system 24/7 as we deliver the energy customers and North Americans rely on,” TC Energy said in a statement.

The company said the pipeline would operate with additional risk-mitigation measures, which include reduced operating pressures.

“We maintain our commitment to our ongoing safety-led response and will fully remediate the incident site. We will share the learnings from the investigation as they become available,” the company’s statement stated.

In a statement, TC Energy President, Liquids Pipelines Richard Prior thanked the landowners surrounding the pipeline incident, as well as tribes, and local officials had offered meals and lodging to crews working to repair the damage.

“Our team has been overwhelmed by your generosity and kindness, including offers of meals and lodging,” Prior said.

“After participating in the emergency response efforts and touring the affected areas, I also want to express gratitude to our dedicated teams and oversight regulatory agencies in responding to this incident and for their work around the clock, including over the holidays. As we resume operations, our focus continues to be on the safety of people, communities and the environment as we deliver the essential energy North Americans need,” he added.

Spill Response

The Keystone Pipeline connects Alberta, Canada, to Illinois and Texas in the United States through a more than 2,600-mile hazardous liquid pipeline system. The fault occurred on what is known as the Cushing Extension, a 36-inch diameter pipeline segment completed in 2011.

The Cushing Extension begins in Steele City, Nebraska, and goes to Cushing, Oklahoma, and is approximately 288 miles long, according to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which ordered TC Energy to take corrective action (pdf).

TC Energy operates the pipeline, which distributes 622,000 barrels of heavy Canadian oil daily from Canada to refineries in the United States.

To mitigate the spill, the response included isolating the damaged segment of the pipe and stopping the downstream flow of the spilled oil, which crews then worked to contain and recover.

Emergency crews work to clean up the Keystone Pipeline spill operated by TC Energy in rural Washington County, Kansas, on Dec. 9, 2022. Drone Base/Reuters

The company said it set up a secondary dam, and vacuum trucks and crews are working around the clock over the Christmas period to clean up the spill, with multiple booms downstream of the spill site to stop the oil from migrating further downstream.

Over 500 people were working on-site, along with six booms, 17 vacuum trucks at the creek’s edge sucking the oil out of the creek, and skimmers were used across the top of the water, according to a Dec. 11 post from Kansas state Rep. Lisa Moser, a Republican.

“We appreciate this incident is concerning for you, the community, and we share that concern,” Prior said. “We have mobilized over 500 resources onsite. I’ve seen first-hand the care, concern, and effort going into our response and recovery, which carried over into the safe and successful restart of the Cushing Extension of the pipeline. We will continue our work until we’ve cleaned up and restored the affected areas.”

“We recognize that incidents like this raise questions,” he continued. “We have questions too. We are committed to asking those tough questions, fully investigating and sharing our learnings and actions. We take our responsibility very seriously. We will not rest until we have recovered and remediated the areas affected by this incident. No incident is ever acceptable to us.”

The cause of the leak remains under investigation. Sabotage was previously ruled out.