The Keystone pipeline that carries oil from Canada through seven U.S. states has been shut down after it leaked an unknown amount of crude oil in the northeastern part of North Dakota.
State regulators were notified late Tuesday of the leak near Edinburg in Walsh County, North Dakota. Pipeline owner TC Energy (TSX:TRP) shut down the pipeline after the leak was detected. The cause and size of the spill are currently under investigation.
The Calgary-based company formerly known as TransCanada that runs the majority of the Keystone pipeline did not immediately respond to media reports about the oil leak. State regulators also said that some North Dakota wetlands also appeared to be affected by the oil spill but that drinking water sources appeared to be unaffected.
Crude oil began flowing through the $5.2-billion pipeline in 2010. It is part of a system that includes the proposed $8-billion Keystone XL pipeline designed to transport the oil from western Canada to terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast. However, an American judge blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline last year, saying more environmental study was needed.
The original Keystone is designed to carry crude oil across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri on the way to refineries in Patoka, Illinois and Cushing, Oklahoma. It has experienced problems with spills in the past, including one in 2011 of more than 14,000 gallons of oil in southeastern North Dakota, near the South Dakota border.
