Trucks and crews are actively engaged in the cleanup of an oil spill from the Keystone Pipeline in a rural area of North Dakota, although the cause of the spill and the timeline for the project’s resolution are still uncertain. The rupture occurred Tuesday morning in the southeastern region of the state and was quickly addressed after an employee heard a mechanical noise and acted to halt operations within two minutes. An aerial image released Wednesday displays a dark, oil-covered area resembling a pond in a partly snow-covered field, clearly marked by tire tracks. A local farmer mentioned detecting the distinct smell of crude oil carried by the wind.
South Bow, the company managing the liquid pipelines, has estimated the spill’s volume to be around 3,500 barrels, translating to approximately 147,000 gallons of crude oil. The entire Keystone system has been shut down as a precaution. However, the exact cause of the spill remains unknown, and investigations are underway. Kristin Anderson, a spokesperson for the company, indicated that they are still determining how long repairs might require.
Paul Blackburn, a policy analyst with the Bold Alliance—a group concerned with environmental issues and landowner interests that opposed the pipeline’s extension—indicated that this is a significant spill. He highlighted that the estimated volume equates to 16 tanker trucks full of oil, suggesting that the total amount could potentially increase as more information emerges. Blackburn also compared the Keystone Pipeline’s spill history unfavorably to the Dakota Access pipeline, noting that since June 2017, Keystone has spilled nearly 1.2 million gallons, whereas Dakota Access has spilled considerably less.
The company has assured that the pipeline was functioning within its designed and regulatory limits at the time of the incident. Ramanan Krishnamoorti from the University of Houston mentioned several stressors that underground pipelines might encounter, such as corrosive substances, fluctuating temperatures, soil movements, external forces like trains or construction equipment, and pressure on the pipeline’s bends or joints.
Originating in Alberta, Canada, the Keystone pipeline spans 2,700 miles, transporting heavy tar sands crude oil through the Dakotas and Nebraska before splitting to refineries in Illinois and heading down south to Oklahoma and Texas. Constructed in 2010 with an investment of $5.2 billion, the pipeline was developed by TC Energy but is now operated by South Bow.
In their response, the company has contained the spill to an agricultural field and has deployed multiple vacuum trucks on-site to recover the oil. They are also conducting continuous air quality monitoring. The problematic segment of the pipeline has been isolated, and the company is assessing strategies for restoring service. Attempts to reach the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Ransom County sheriff for comments on the spill have yet to yield responses.
Myron Hammer, a landowner whose farm is affected by the spill, noted that while the spill has not had a direct impact on him aside from the occasional smell of oil or sulfur wafting by, the pipeline company is actively working on addressing the problem. There has been an influx of equipment traffic in the area, his property near the scene being utilized for staging. The incident has forced Hammer to revise his farming plans over five or more acres due to the spill.
The spill site is situated north of Fort Ransom, secluded in a picturesque and forested region known for its outdoor attractions, including a state park and several hiking trails. This recent incident follows a rupture in December 2022 in northeastern Kansas, where approximately 13,000 barrels of crude oil leaked into a creek. That incident was attributed to a flawed weld that caused a crack due to stress over time.
As for the potential economic implications, experts have mixed opinions on whether the pipeline’s shutdown will impact gas prices. Krishnamoorti suggests that the shutdown might quickly drive up gas prices in the Midwest and could have ripple effects on diesel and jet fuel prices, given that refineries will face a shortage of crude oil. As diesel prices rise, the cost of transporting goods, including groceries, could subsequently increase. However, other experts believe that refineries may have enough crude already in reserve to mitigate immediate impacts in case of a temporary cutoff of the pipeline. Nevertheless, energy market fluctuations due to broader challenges like trade wars could alter these predictions.