Keystone Pipeline Leak Blackens the Soil in South Dakota

Keystone Pipeline behind fence with TransCanada notice

The Keystone Pipeline spill prompted TransCanada Corp to shut down several of its sections

The Keystone pipeline in South Dakota leaked five thousand barrels of oil, or about 210 thousand gallons, this Thursday. The leak prompted its owner, TransCanada Corp, to send cleanup crews on site. TransCanada said in a statement that the leak occurred southeast of Amherst in northeast South Dakota.

This was four days before the Public Commission in Nebraska was set to decide on TransCanada Corp’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline is part of a 2,687-mile system that carries crude oil from Alberta to a number of locations in the U.S. such as Oklahoma and Illinois.

TransCanada Corp was forced to shut down its Keystone oil pipeline after the leak got out of hand and blackened the soil. “This is not a little spill from any perspective,” said Kim McIntosh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The scientist also said that no livestock or drinking water sources were affected as well as no farm buildings or houses within a mile from the incident.

The company saith in a statement that the South Dakota leak was detected at 6 a.m local times after they noticed a drop of pressure.

„TransCanada appreciates the collaborative support of local officials, emergency response personnel and commissioners in Marshall County,” the company said in its statement.

They also posted a photo of the incident on their Twitter account.

Image of Amherst incident taken earlier today by aerial patrol as part of our initial response. For more updates, visit https://t.co/8yWI1Oq2EM pic.twitter.com/uRNtYUdVjL

— TransCanada (@TransCanada) November 16, 2017

People who oppose TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposed to cancel it due to the spill. Brian Jorde, a lawyer representing Nebraska landowners, said that if the spill had happened somewhere along the proposed route in Nebraska, the effects would have been „devastating”.

The spill reportedly forced the company to shut down the pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Cushing, Oklahoma, and to Wood River and Patoka in Illinois.

Image Source: StaticFlickr