It is estimated that 3,500 barrels of crude oil spread in an agricultural field in northern Dakota after a Keystone Pipeline employee heard a “mechanical blow” The system early Tuesday morning, said the management company South Bow.
More than 200 people were deployed on the site for oil recovery and correction, South Bow said. A damaged section of the pipeline remains isolated. Managers previously said that a small river near the area was not affected, but had also been isolated.
Thursday, 700 barrels of oil, or about 20% of the updated amount, had been recovered, said the company, adding that the system remained closed.
An employee of a pumping station along the pipeline heard a “blow” on Tuesday morning, said Bill Sheess, head of the Dakota Dakota Dissement Investigation Program, told CBS News. South Bow, a liquid pipeline company that has managed Keystone pipeline since 2024, said that the leak detection systems of the control center have detected a pressure drop in the system and initiated a stop and an answer around 7:42 am, it is not clear which caused the problem.
The crude oil, which the pipeline carries from Canada to the refineries of Illinois and Oklahoma, spread in an agricultural field south of the pumping station, said Seuss. South Bow said that the incident had taken place in Milepost 171, near Fort Ransom, a small outcome of around 80 miles from Fargo.
Phil Holm / AP 
South Bow said on Thursday that “continuous air quality surveillance had not shown no unfavorable health indication or public concerns currently”, and these staff lead “around air and the environment”.
The company works with the pipeline and hazardous Materials Safety Association and the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality while cleaning efforts are continuing.
South Bow / AP 
An investigation into what caused the spill is also underway, South Bow said.
“We have not established a calendar for restarting and will only resume service with the regulator’s approvals,” South Bow said. “Our main objective remains on the security of the personnel on site and the attenuation of the risks for the environment.”
The Keystone pipeline got online in 2011. It crossed the North Carolina, the southern Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The raw oil he transports goes to Illinois and Oklahoma refineries. An proposed extension that would have brought crude oil to the Gulf coast was Stop in 2021 After years of protests.
The pipeline had At least three important spills Since 2017, CBS News has previously reported. The largest spill was in 2022, when about 14,000 barrels of crude oil Overturned in a kansas stream.
South Bow / AP 
