Crews Clean Up a Massive Oil Spill: D.C. (10 Dec Reuters) – As emergency crews worked to clean up the worst oil pipeline leak in the United States in a decade in near-freezing temperatures and investigators searched for clues as to what caused the spill, residents near the site took the noise and smell in stride.
Tractor trailers hauled generators, lights, and ground mats to a muddy site on the outskirts of the farming community, and a thick scent of oil hung in the air. On Friday, TC Energy (TRP.TO), the operator of the pipeline, announced that it was considering restarting the line, which transports 622,000 barrels of oil per day to refineries and export hubs in the United States.
No information about the nature of the breach or a timeline for resuming service on the affected portion was given. “We could smell it first thing in the morning; it was bad,” said Dana Cecrle, 56, a resident of Washington. Even so, he shrugged off the interruption: “Things wear out or break. Pipelines burst and oil trains go off the tracks.”
Crews Clean Up a Massive Oil Spill
Authorities from the federal government combed the scene while environmental experts from as far away as Mississippi assisted with clean-up efforts and looked into what caused the break in the 36-inch (91-cm) pipeline.
Bloomberg News cites unnamed sources saying that on Saturday, December 20, TC Energy plans to resume operations on a pipeline segment that transports oil to Illinois, and on December 20, operations will resume on a pipeline segment that transports oil to Cushing. It should be noted that Reuters has not independently confirmed those claims.
We are responding to a release of oil from our Keystone Pipeline System.
The system remains shutdown, the affected segment has been isolated and we have contained downstream migration of the release. Find updates on our continued response efforts at: https://t.co/q2Qj42ZUHx— TC Energy (@TCEnergy) December 9, 2022
It was the third time since the pipeline’s 2010 opening that several thousand barrels of crude oil had leaked along its length of 2,687 miles (4,324 kilometres). Because of a previous spill, the Keystone pipeline was shut down for about two weeks.
Carol Hollingsworth, 70, of neighbouring Hollenberg, responded to the latest spill with, “Hell, that’s life.” We can’t function without oil. TC Energy had roughly 100 people heading the clean-up and containment efforts, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was providing oversight and monitoring, said Kellen Ashford, an EPA representative.
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U.S. regulator Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (PHMSA) stated the business halted the pipeline seven minutes after getting a leak detection signal. Washington County is a rural area of around 5,500 inhabitants, located about 200 miles northwest of Kansas City.
An oil spill in a creek in north-eastern Kansas this week is the largest for an onshore crude pipeline in more than nine years and by far the biggest in the history of the Keystone pipeline. https://t.co/WKK6zT31S4
— Climate Nexus (@ClimateNexus) December 9, 2022
The spill has not affected the water supply or prompted residents to leave, Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Randy Hubbard told Reuters. Workers swiftly built up a containment area to limit oil that had spilled into a creek from going downstream.
Drinking water fit for human consumption is not produced by this process, Hubbard emphasised. Even while prices didn’t react much on Friday, a prolonged outage of the pipeline might cause Canadian oil to become bottlenecked in Alberta, leading to lower prices at the Hardisty storage hub.
We are monitoring & investigating the Keystone Pipeline leak first detected Weds night. Our Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued a Corrective Action Order requiring a shutdown of the affected segment, analysis of the cause, and other safety measures.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 9, 2022
Canadian heavy grade Western Canada Select (WCS) for December delivery reportedly last traded at $27.70 a barrel below the price of U.S. crude futures, as reported by a broker in Calgary. On Thursday, December WCS traded as low as $33.50 under U.S. crude, before closing at roughly a $28.45 discount.
Even if Keystone is allowed to begin operations, the true impact may not be seen until PHMSA imposes (flow) pressure restrictions, according to Ryan Saxton, head of oil statistics at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
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