An estimated oil spill in the Keystone Pipeline in Kansas dumped more than half a million gallons into a stream

Canada-based TC Energy on Thursday estimated the Keystone system spill at about 14,000 barrels or 588,000 gallons. It said the affected pipeline segment was “isolated”, the oil had been contained at the site with dams or barriers and environmental monitoring was in place, including 24-hour air quality monitoring. It was not said how the burial happened.

The company said it shut down its Keystone system Wednesday night after a pressure drop in the pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. Oil spilled into a creek in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.

Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club in Kansas, noted that the spill in his state was larger than all 22 previous spills in the Keystone pipeline, which began operating in 2010.

“It’s going to be months, maybe even years, before we get a full handle on this disaster and know the extent of the damage and clean it all up,” he said.

In September 2013, a Tesoro Corp. pipeline ruptured. in North Dakota and spilled 20,600 barrels, according to data from the US Department of Transportation.

A more expensive oil spill occurred in July 2010 when an Enbridge Inc. pipeline in Michigan ruptured and more than 20,000 barrels spilled into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. Hundreds of homes and businesses were evacuated.

The Keystone pipeline’s largest leak to date occurred in 2017, when more than 6,500 barrels spilled near Amherst, South Dakota, according to a report released last year by the US Government Accountability Office. The second largest, 4,515 barrels, was near Edinburgh, North Dakota in 2019.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said drinking water wells were unaffected by this week’s spill and the oil had not spilled from the creek into major waterways. The spill occurred on ranch land about 5 miles northeast of Washington, the county seat of about 1,100, and no evacuations were ordered.

Pipelines are often considered safer than transporting oil by railcar or truck, but large spills can cause significant environmental damage.

The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone Pipeline carries thick Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. A section of the transportation department that oversees the safety of the pipeline allowed operator TC Energy to operate the pipeline at a higher pressure than is normally allowed when the company uses better steel pipes.

In a report to Congress last year, the Government Accountability Office said Keystone’s accident history was similar to that of other oil pipelines, but leaks had gotten bigger in recent years. Investigations ordered by regulators found that the four worst leaks were caused by design flaws or design flaws in pipe fabrication during construction.

The TC Energy permit contained more than 50 special conditions, including those related to design, construction and operation, the GAO report said. Bill Caram, chief executive of the non-profit advocacy group Pipeline Safety Trust, said Friday he thought the extra safety measures would be enough to offset the pipeline’s higher pressures.

“When we see multiple outages like this on such a large scale and in a relatively short period of time after these pressures have increased, I think it’s time to question that,” Caram said, citing the leaks of 2017 and 2019

Fears that spills could contaminate waterways led to opposition to TC Energy’s plans to build another crude oil pipeline in the Keystone system that would have crossed Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Critics also argued that using crude oil from western Canada’s tar sands would worsen climate change, and President Joe Biden’s cancellation of a US permit for the project prompted the company to pull the plug last year.

The oil spill caused a brief spike in crude oil prices on Thursday. Benchmark US oil rose a little more modestly — about 1% — on Friday morning as fears of a supply disruption were overshadowed by broader worries about an economic slowdown in the US and other major countries that would reduce demand for oil.

Tom Kloza, an analyst with the Oil Price Information Service, said oil is now perceived as plentiful “and this mishap will not have a significant impact on gasoline or diesel prices.” Prices at the pump will continue to fall by pennies a day or more, and between Canadian imports and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve the US has enough crude to last more than three years at current demand, he said .

Patrick De Haan, an analyst at GasBuddy, which runs a price-tracking app, said there is pressure to quickly fix the pipeline and supply refiners, adding: “If it lasts longer than a few days, that could mean trouble.” .”

Spilled keystones in the past have resulted in outages that have lasted about two weeks, but this outage could potentially last longer given the body of water involved, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note to investors. Although it’s possible that part of the pipeline could be back online sooner, they said.

The spill was 5 miles (8 kilometers) northeast of Washington, the county seat of about 1,100 people.

The pipeline runs through Chris and Bill Pannbacker’s family farm. The hill where the breach occurred was a landmark for locals and used to be a popular destination for hay wagons, said Bill Pannbacker, a farmer and rancher. He disagreed with the company’s decision to build the pipeline over that 80-foot hill instead of drilling through it and is now wondering whether to back down.

“I wish I had held tighter. And I bet now they’re wishing I’d held tighter too, because I suspect the flow against that bend in the pipe might have caused the problem.”