The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas and was the biggest in the system's history.
The EPA said no drinking water wells were affected and oil-removal efforts will continue into next week. No one was evacuated, but the Kansas Department of Health and Environment warned people not to go into the creek or allow animals to wade in.
Concerns about spills fouling water helped spur opposition to a new, 1,200 mile Keystone XL pipeline, and the company pulled the plug last year after President Joe Biden canceled a permit for it. Pipelines often are considered safer than shipping oil by railcar or truck, but large spills can create significant environmental damage. The American Petroleum Institute said Friday that companies have robust monitoring to detect leaks, cracks, corrosion and other problems, not only through control centers but with employees who walk alongside pipelines.
The Keystone pipeline's previous largest spill came in 2017, when more than 6,500 barrels spilled near Amherst, South Dakota, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last year. The second largest, 4,515 barrels, was in 2019 near Edinburg, North Dakota. But Caram said: "When we see multiple failures like this of such large size and a relatively short amount of time after that pressure has increased, I think it's time to question that."
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