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TC Energy Corp. has estimated the cleanup and remediation costs of the December oil spill in Kansas from the Keystone pipeline at approximately $480 million US.
The Keystone pipeline system experienced the worst oil spill in its history on December 7, 2022, when oil leaked into a river in Washington County.
The size of the spill was initially estimated at 14,000 barrels, although TC Energy revised that number down on Thursday to 12,937 barrels (2.0 million liters).
While most of the 4,324-kilometer pipeline system reopened a week after the spill, a 154-kilometer section from south of Steele City, Neb., to Cushing, Okla., remained shut down until late December.
On Thursday, the Calgary company marked prices at the event for the first time, saying it is working with insurance companies to optimize recovery costs.
“This estimate may be adjusted as we continue to progress on site,” the company said in a news release.
TC Energy also released the results of its investigation into the cause of the leak. The company said the spill was caused by a combination of factors, including bending stress in the pipe and welding defects.
He said weld defects lead to cracks that grow over time as a result of bending stress fatigue, leading to leaks. The cause of the bending stress is still under investigation.
The company adds a metallurgical analysis that does not have a problem with the strength or material properties of the pipes or fittings produced, and the pipes operate in the operational design and at the maximum operating pressure in the pipe design.
Recovery and remediation efforts at the site are continuing, TC Energy said, and the company is conducting additional in-line inspections as well as analyzes of other pipeline segments with similar conditions.
Pipelines are widely considered by experts to be a safer method of transporting crude than rail or truck. Still, the risk of spills has long been a factor cited by environmentalists and others opposing North American pipeline construction projects in recent years.
Fears about potential pipeline leaks (as well as concerns about climate change) are helping to drive opposition to TC Energy’s proposed Keystone XL extension. The project would pass through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, but the permit was eventually canceled by US President Joe Biden in 2021.
A report released last year from the US Government Accountability Office (GOA), a congressional watchdog agency, said the history of the Keystone accident has been similar to other crude oil pipelines since 2010, but the severity of the spill has worsened in recent years.
In 2017, the Keystone leak spilled about 6,600 barrels (954,000 liters) in North Dakota, while in 2019, the pipeline spilled about 4,500 barrels (715,500 liters) of oil in South Dakota.
In both spills, the GOA report identified “construction issues” that led to the failure of pipe materials or welding materials as the main factor.
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