Posted on Dec 15, 2022
Keystone Pipeline has history of spills, warnings and fines. This Kansas spill is the largest yet...
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The Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — of oil in northern Kansas. In the decade since it began operations, the crude oil pipeline’s Canadian owner, TC Energy, has paid just over $300,000 fines for the damages it's caused.
Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures.
But despite a history of warnings and large spills, the Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — of oil in northern Kansas. It’s the largest spill since the pipeline began operations about a decade ago.
Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures.
But despite a history of warnings and large spills, the Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — of oil in northern Kansas. It’s the largest spill since the pipeline began operations about a decade ago.
Keystone Pipeline has history of spills, warnings and fines. This Kansas spill is the largest yet...
Posted from kcur.org
Oil
Oil and Energy
Canada
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."A history of failures
The section of the Keystone pipeline running from Steele City, Nebraska, to Patoka, Illinois, began operations in the summer of 2010, but it didn’t install corrosion protection for more than two years, federal documents show.
And what was installed was not properly designed.
In 2012, the pipeline’s operator conducted an inspection and found that four spots along the pipeline had experienced anywhere from 61% to 97% metal loss. One area had a wall thickness of less than 1/64 of an inch.
At the same time, the pipeline company failed to correct deficiencies in its corrosion control for years, including 56 deficiencies along the pipeline from Nebraska to Illinois and six between Nebraska and Oklahoma.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration levied a fine of $135,400.
In warning letters early in the pipeline’s operation, PHMSA said Keystone failed to perform welding appropriately and failed to install the pipeline “in a manner that minimizes the possibility of damage to the pipe.”
In 2016, it failed to coat the pipeline to prevent atmospheric corrosion, which was a violation of its own procedures, federal documents show. Earlier this year, the federal government warned that shutdown devices along the Keystone pipeline aren’t properly labeled and an employee couldn’t identify the device during an inspection.
Some of the federal government’s warnings have later manifested in spills.
Corrosion caused the Keystone pipeline to spill 442 barrels of crude oil at a facility in Beaumont, Texas, in 2020. TC Energy reported to the federal government that it had been focused on mitigating corrosion along the main pipeline, not the delivery facility in Beaumont.
Most of Keystone’s spills have been attributed to mechanical or equipment failures.
A 2019 spill in Niagara, North Dakota, was attributed to a manufacturing problem that eventually led the joint to crack. As a result, 4,500 barrels of oil — close to 200,000 gallons — caused property damage totaling more than $39 million.
Another material failure caused by construction or installation led to a spill of almost 6,600 barrels in South Dakota in 2017, causing $44.8 million in damage.
It’s unclear the total damage caused by Keystone’s spill in Kansas, but farmers have lost pasture temporarily to the oil spill.
Kansas State Rep. Lisa Moser said on Facebook that five landowners were directly affected and nine more have staging areas on their properties. She said all 14 landowners are being paid as they are directly or indirectly being affected by the spill.
TC Energy said in a statement that its efforts at the spill site in Kansas “will continue until we have fully remediated the site.”"
..."A history of failures
The section of the Keystone pipeline running from Steele City, Nebraska, to Patoka, Illinois, began operations in the summer of 2010, but it didn’t install corrosion protection for more than two years, federal documents show.
And what was installed was not properly designed.
In 2012, the pipeline’s operator conducted an inspection and found that four spots along the pipeline had experienced anywhere from 61% to 97% metal loss. One area had a wall thickness of less than 1/64 of an inch.
At the same time, the pipeline company failed to correct deficiencies in its corrosion control for years, including 56 deficiencies along the pipeline from Nebraska to Illinois and six between Nebraska and Oklahoma.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration levied a fine of $135,400.
In warning letters early in the pipeline’s operation, PHMSA said Keystone failed to perform welding appropriately and failed to install the pipeline “in a manner that minimizes the possibility of damage to the pipe.”
In 2016, it failed to coat the pipeline to prevent atmospheric corrosion, which was a violation of its own procedures, federal documents show. Earlier this year, the federal government warned that shutdown devices along the Keystone pipeline aren’t properly labeled and an employee couldn’t identify the device during an inspection.
Some of the federal government’s warnings have later manifested in spills.
Corrosion caused the Keystone pipeline to spill 442 barrels of crude oil at a facility in Beaumont, Texas, in 2020. TC Energy reported to the federal government that it had been focused on mitigating corrosion along the main pipeline, not the delivery facility in Beaumont.
Most of Keystone’s spills have been attributed to mechanical or equipment failures.
A 2019 spill in Niagara, North Dakota, was attributed to a manufacturing problem that eventually led the joint to crack. As a result, 4,500 barrels of oil — close to 200,000 gallons — caused property damage totaling more than $39 million.
Another material failure caused by construction or installation led to a spill of almost 6,600 barrels in South Dakota in 2017, causing $44.8 million in damage.
It’s unclear the total damage caused by Keystone’s spill in Kansas, but farmers have lost pasture temporarily to the oil spill.
Kansas State Rep. Lisa Moser said on Facebook that five landowners were directly affected and nine more have staging areas on their properties. She said all 14 landowners are being paid as they are directly or indirectly being affected by the spill.
TC Energy said in a statement that its efforts at the spill site in Kansas “will continue until we have fully remediated the site.”"
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