Keystone pipeline leaks again--this time in ND

Within a week of South Dakota, ACLU settling a lawsuit over ‘riot-boosting’ laws (the ACLU and plaintiffs got much of what they wanted), TC Energy's existing Keystone pipeline sprang a leak in northeast North Dakota.

James McPherson of the Assoociated Press reports in Keystone oil pipeline leaks 383,000 gallons in North Dakota:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil in northeastern North Dakota, state regulators said Thursday.

Crews on Tuesday shut down the pipeline that carries tar sands oil from Canada through seven states after the leak was discovered said Karl Rockeman, North Dakota’s water quality division director. It remained closed Thursday.

Full Coverage: Keystone Pipeline

The Calgary, Alberta-based company formerly known as TransCanada said in a statement the leak affected about 22,500 square feet (2090.3 sq. meters) of land near Edinburg, in Walsh County.

The company and regulators said the cause was being investigated.

“Our emergency response team contained the impacted area and oil has not migrated beyond the immediately affected area,” the company said in a statement.

North Dakota regulators were notified late Tuesday night of the leak. Rockeman said some wetlands were affected, but not any sources of drinking water.

Regulators have been at the site since Wednesday afternoon monitoring the spill and cleanup, he said.

Crude began flowing through the $5.2 billion pipeline in 2011. It’s designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois and Cushing, Oklahoma.

It can handle about 23 million gallons daily.

The pipeline spill and shutdown comes as the company seeks to build the $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline has drawn opposition from people who fear it will harm the environment.

President Donald Trump issued a federal permit for the expansion project in 2017, after it had been rejected by the Obama administration.

Together, the massive Keystone and Keystone XL network would be about five times the length of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

The original Keystone has experienced problems with spills in the past, including one in 2011 of more than 14,000 gallons (53,000 liters) of oil in southeastern North Dakota, near the South Dakota border.

In 2017, the pipeline leaked an estimated 407,000 gallons (1.5 million liters) of oil onto farmland in northeastern South Dakota, in a rural area near the North Dakota border. The company had originally put the spill at about 210,000 gallons (795,000 liters).

Federal regulators said at the time the Keystone leak was the seventh-largest onshore oil or petroleum product spill since 2010.

North Dakota’s biggest spill , and one of the largest onshore spills in U.S. history, came in 2013, when 840,000 gallons (3.1 million liters) spilled from a Tesoro pipeline in the northwestern part of the state. The company spent five years and nearly $100 million cleaning it up.

The Sierra Club said the latest spill was an example of why the Keystone XL should not be built.

“We don’t yet know the extent of the damage from this latest tar sands spill, but what we do know is that this is not the first time this pipeline has spilled toxic tar sands, and it won’t be the last.”

Bluestem believes this latest spill--and the one in 2017--is an example of why TC Energy shouldn't be allowed to write laws restricting free speech and association in South Dakota. Or anywhere else.

In South Dakota pushes bills to prosecute ‘riot-boosting’ ahead of pipeline construction, High Country News' Elena Saavedra Buckley reported in March 2019:

Two bills allowing the state of South Dakota to prosecute pipeline demonstrators and their funders — and use money from damages to fund law enforcement and pipeline costs — moved to the Senate floor on Wednesday. Introduced by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, R, on Monday, the bills would protect the 1,179-mile-long Keystone XL pipeline, a planned TransCanada project that would slice through the state carrying 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association has opposed the bills, representing the leaders of 16 tribes in the region, none of whom were consulted for the legislation. . . .

During a press conference, Gov. Noem said the bills were meant to target out-of-state agitators, alleging that George Soros, a philanthropist and common right-wing target, was one of them. But there is nothing stopping the laws from impacting tribal nations or citizens. Unlike the tribes, TransCanada had a seat at the table as the bills took form, Noem said. The company will also contribute to the PEACE fund. 

The state of South Dakota backed off on Noem's smear during lawsuit court action, Sarah Mearhoff reported in State argues 'riot-boosting' law doesn’t target out-of-state protest supporters:

South Dakota Deputy Attorney General Rich Williams went back-and-forth with Judge Piersol, arguing the law only applies to violence-inducing speech made by a riot participant. Williams is representing Gov. Noem and Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

The argument differed from Noem's comments when she introduced the bill. In a March 4 news release announcing the bill package, she said, "This package creates a legal avenue, if necessary, to go after out-of-state money funding riots that go beyond expressing a viewpoint but instead aim to slow down the pipeline build."

At a press conference the same day, Noem said that George Soros is the "most typical national offender" who funds violent out-of-state protesters.

Noem should avoid some of those fugly national Republican talking points, as we suggested last March in SD Gov Noem blames Soros' money for pipeline protests; cuts tribes out of anti-protest bills talk.

As for TC Energy, perhaps it could focus on preventing oil spills before it returns to Noem's table.

Photo: TC Energy reported an oil spill in the rural Edinburg area, about 30 miles northwest of Grafton, N.D. on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Submitted photo at Forum Communications.

See also:  TransCanada's risk assessment estimated tiny spills "no more than once every 41 years” in SD.

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