Tragedy Unfolding: Cleanup of Largest-Ever Keystone Pipeline Oil Spill Continues

Latest

Some of the area impacted by the December Keystone 1 Pipeline rupture and tars sands oil spill into Mill Creek near Washington, Kansas. (Photo/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Editor’s note: Around 600,000 gallons of Canadian crude tars sands oil, called the world’s dirtiest and most environmentally destructive form of oil, spewed December 7 from the Keystone 1 pipeline into a Kansas creek that feeds a watershed providing drinking water for 800,000 people. The spill calls to mind the warning of danger from a coalition of landowners, tribal nations, and environmentalists who came together to successfully stop construction of a larger Keystone XL extension project last year. Art Tanderup, a Nebraska landowner and farmer who was a leader in that fight said in a Facebook post, “For over a decade we fought to keep KXL out of the ground for this very reason. How can our government allow these climate killing black snakes to continue to operate? How can we allow our water, people and land continually to be put in harm’s way? TransCanada and our tax dollars will spend weeks, months and maybe never cleaning up this devastating tar sands spill. #ShutItDown! #LeaveItInTheGround!” Below is an article on the Keystone 1 spill and cleanup by Brett Wilkins, staff writer for Common Dreams. The article first appeared at: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/12/tragedy-unfolding-cleanup-largest-ever-keystone-pipeline-oil-spill-continues/

Cleanup and assessment efforts continued after a Canadian fossil fuel company’s pipeline spilled nearly an Olympic-sized swimming pool’s worth of crude tar sands oil into a northern Kansas creek that feeds a watershed providing drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people.

In what’s being called the largest U.S. onshore crude oil leak in nearly a decade and the largest by far in the accident-prone Keystone Pipeline system’s history, approximately 14,000 barrels, or 600,000 gallons, of crude tar sands oil spewed from the Keystone 1 pipeline onto surrounding land and into Mill Creek just north of Washington, Kansas at around 8:00 pm on Wednesday.

Mill Creek flows into the Little Blue River, which in turn drains into the Big Blue River, which then runs into the Tuttle Creek Reservoir before draining into the Kansas River.

Aerial footage published by Nebraska Public Media over the weekend showed the extent of the damage:

“Over 61,000 square miles of watershed in Kansas, southern Nebraska, and eastern Colorado drain to the Kansas River, the drinking water source for over 800,000 Kansans and a vital natural resource,” the local environmental group Friends of the Kaw said in a statement Friday.

“This area includes the creek, rivers, and reservoir potentially impacted by this Keystone pipeline spill. While Washington County is seemingly far away from the Kansas River, disasters like this one illustrate how connected the people and places in our watershed truly are,” the group added.

Calgary, Alberta-based TC Energy said Sunday that the company has “contained” the spill and “continues to progress in our response” to the accident. The firm also said it is working with federal, state, and tribal agencies in response to the spill.

“We appreciate the patience and collaboration of the surrounding community and partner agencies for their support in responding to this incident,” the company added. “We recognize this is concerning to the community and commit that we will continue our response until we have fully remediated the site.”

While part of the same system, the Keystone 1 pipeline—which carries an estimated 720,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands oil per day—is a separate conduit from the proposed Keystone XL extension that was defeated by Indigenous, green, and progressive activism and rejected by the Obama and Biden administrations.

The Keystone system carries tar sands oil—what the National Congress of American Indians calls “the world’s dirtiest and most environmentally destructive form of oil”—from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Illinois and the Texas Gulf Coast. The pipelines are staunchly opposed by Indigenous and environmental activists, many of whom have been arrested and some of whom have been criminally charged

Keystone XL opponents warned of the danger of leaks prior to and during its construction, which was halted last year. According to the anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska, there have been 22 Keystone spills since 2010.

“As we wait to hear how much tar sands and toxic chemicals like benzene have polluted our water from TC Energy’s Keystone 1 pipeline, it is critical to note our state and counties need better laws on the books for pipelines,” Bold Nebraska founder Jane Kleeb said in a statement.

“Thankfully, landowners and tribal nations came together to stop the larger Keystone XL pipeline from cutting through sensitive areas of the Ogallala Aquifer and the Niobrara River,” Kleeb added. “Now is the time to get stronger laws on the books to protect our state’s assets—the land, the water, and the people.”

Friends of the Kaw implored, “For the sake of the people and wildlife in Washington County and those living downstream who could be impacted, we urge TC Energy to clean up the entire spill and to take action on any later impacts that may occur as a result of their actions.”

The only safe way to transport tar sands oil is not to do it at all. Leave it in the ground where it is so it doesn’t end up where it doesn’t belong. (Charles P. Pierce)

This work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

No, Immigration Is Not Making Housing Less Affordable

Despite politicians' claims to the contrary, immigration is not making housing unaffordable. In fact, immigration can be part of the solution.

Make Your Vote Count 

This 2024 election is gaining on us and the pressure to get to the ballot box is intense and...

Michigan’s Prescient Lesson: Vote While You Still Can!!! 

Michigan's non-elected Emergency Manager dictatorship made Flint's water crisis possible. Pay attention to the danger of losing our Democratic rights as we’ve known them in this election. Vote while you still can!

US Doctors Tell Biden, Harris They ‘Witnessed Crimes Beyond Comprehension’ in Gaza

US doctors who visited Gaza tell Biden, Harris they've never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources, that our bombs are cutting down women and children, and that a ceasefire must be imposed.

Abortion Tragedies and a Georgia Victory

Grassroots organizations filed a lawsuit against Georgia's cruel abortion laws, and the county judge took a firm stand on the side of justice, writing in his ruling that “liberty in Georgia" includes "the power of a woman to control her own body . . . and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

More from the People's Tribune