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Keystone Pipeline Operator Agrees to $26.9 Million Penalty and $40 Million in Upgrades After 2022 Kansas Spill
A proposed settlement requires South Bow to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty and spend about $40 million on prevention measures after the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years.
Jul 13, 2:59 AM·2m read3 sources
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A proposed legal settlement requires South Bow, operator of the Keystone Pipeline system, to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a December 2022 oil spill in Kansas and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents. The agreement resolves allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow violated U.S.
And state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City. The accident was the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S.
In nine years and surpassed all 22 previous spills on the Keystone system combined. South Bow would also pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under the proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas.
A judge must approve the decree after a 30-day public comment period. “The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” Jeffrey Hall, EPA assistant administrator for its enforcement office, said in a statement.
” South Bow spokesperson Sara Hunter said the company “proactively” launched its response before receiving formal directives and completed comprehensive environmental remediation in February 2024.
Since the spill, the company has conducted more than 12,000 miles of pipeline inspections and performed 400 excavations to examine pipe and make repairs. No pipeline workers or area residents were injured, and public water supplies were not affected. A U.S.
Government complaint filed with the proposed settlement said more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The spill area is home to the endangered long-eared bat. A May 2023 engineering consulting firm report stated a bend in the pipeline where the spill occurred had been overstressed since its installation in December 2010, likely because construction activity altered the land around the pipe.
