(Calgary) TC Energy announces it has restarted the southern extension of its Keystone Pipeline after repairing an oil leak Dec. 7 that led to the worst oil spill in the pipeline’s history.
The Calgary-based company says it will operate the pipeline according to plans approved by US regulators, including additional safety measures such as reduced operating pressure.
TC Energy restarted most of the 4,324-kilometre Keystone Pipeline System — which helps get Canadian and U.S. crude oil to markets in North America — on Dec. 14. While the 154 mile Cushing Extension, running south from Steele City, Nebraska to Cushing, Oklahoma, remained closed after the leak.
The cause of the spill estimated at 14,000 barrels is still under investigation. In quantity, this oil spill eclipsed a 2017 spill of 6,600 barrels in North Dakota and a 2019 spill of 4,500 barrels in South Dakota.
The company says it has pledged to clean up the spill site in Washington County, Kansas, which includes a creek and farmland.
A report released last year by the US Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog, said Keystone’s accident history has been similar to that of other oil pipelines since 2010, but the severity of spills has worsened in recent years.