On Monday, TransCanada Corp. announced they have closed a portion of its Keystone oil pipeline after discovering a possible leak in the South Dakota portion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, TransCanada workers responded to a “small patch” of oil on the ground about 4 miles from the Canadian company’s pump station in Freeman, in the state’s southeast corner.
The 2,639-mile pipeline carries about 500,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Hardisty in Canada into the U.S., through North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska before branching out to Missouri and Illinois to the east and Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to the south. The portion stretching from Canada to Oklahoma is currently closed.
Huffington Post Canada reported that Mark Cooper, TransCanada spokesperson, said the leak was initially reported by a landowner on Saturday. “As soon as we got that report in we immediately began efforts to shut down the pipeline and crews were immediately dispatched to the site,” said Cooper.
By Saturday afternoon, TransCanada reported a 187-gallon crude oil spill to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center, according to CNN.
About 100 of the company’s workers are currently excavating the site around the affected 300 square feet of soil to further investigate the leaking portion of the pipeline. In an emailed statement, TransCanada said there has so far been no change in the "overall footprint of the visible oil."
TransCanada says that no significant environmental impact has yet been observed, according to the WSJ, and the company is cooperating with regulators. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration is also investigating.
The pipeline will likely remain closed for the rest of the week as an investigation aims to find the source of the leak. So far, no pipeline damage has been found and no figures about cleanup costs have been released, reports the Associated Press.
Should TransCanada have been first to notice the spill? Does this incident impact your opinion about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline? Comment below or tweet @KatieeMohr.
