Nearly 5,000 barrels of oil leaked from Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): TransCanada- the company that operates the Keystone Pipeline has announced that nearly 5,000 barrels of oil sands crude oil leaked from a section of the pipeline at approximately 35 miles south of the Ludden pump station in Marshall County, South Dakota. The crews attended to the scene, isolating the portion of the pipeline within 15 minutes. The oil leak had led to a sudden drop in pressure, following which the pipeline was safety shut down.

Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources noted that this is the largest oil spill from Keystone pipeline till date. The exact cause of the leak is being investigated by officials, Walsh said. Earlier in 2016, an oil spill of nearly 16,800 gallons was reported in South Dakota, following which the lines remained closed for almost a week, the cleanup took nearly two months to get completed. In its first year of operation in 2010, the pipeline had reported 35 leaks in the US and Canada.

The leak has raised more concerns about safety of the pipeline. Incidentally, Nebraska officials are about to decide on approval to Keystone XL pipeline-an extension to the Keystone 1 line. The extension which was rejected by former president Barack Obama had received a new life when Donald Trump issued order to expedite the environmental review process of the proposed extension pipeline.

The Keystone pipeline, owned by TransCanada Corporation, is an oil pipeline system in the US and Canada, commissioned in 2010. The pipeline which stretches over 2,600 kilometers transports crude oil from Canada into refineries in Illinois and Texas. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would stretch to Steele City, Nebraska, cutting through Montana and South Dakota.