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South Bow to Pay $26.9 Million Penalty and Spend $40 Million on Pipeline Safety After 2022 Kansas Spill
A proposed settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas requires South Bow to pay a civil penalty and spend roughly $40 million on prevention measures after the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the United States in nine years. The agreement resolves allegations that the company violated federal and state clean water laws.
Jul 13, 2:59 AM·2m read6 sources
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A proposed legal settlement requires South Bow to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty and spend about $40 million on measures to prevent future accidents after a December 2022 rupture on the Keystone pipeline system. The agreement, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas, resolves allegations from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Kansas that South Bow violated federal and state clean water laws. A judge must approve the decree after a 30-day public comment period. South Bow would also pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects.
The rupture released nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek in a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City. The spill was the largest onshore crude pipeline incident in the United States in nine years and exceeded the combined volume of all 22 prior spills on the Keystone system.
No workers or residents were injured, and public water supplies were unaffected.
A U.S. government complaint filed with the settlement states that more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The spill area is habitat for the endangered long-eared bat. A May 2023 engineering report found that a bend in the pipe had been overstressed since its installation in December 2010, likely because construction activity altered the surrounding land.
The complaint added that soil under the pipe had been improperly compacted and that the company re-excavated the site in 2013 without replacing that section of pipe. “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 enforcement, 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.
