Federal Regulators Order Corrective Actions Following Keystone Pipeline Rupture

After a rupture earlier this week caused over 556,000 litres of oil to spill onto farmland in North Dakota, federal regulators have taken action against the operator of the Keystone Pipeline, Calgary-based South Bow.

South Bow has stated that their goal is to resume deliveries to refineries in the next few days, but the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued several directives for corrective actions to be taken.

PHMSA has instructed South Bow to submit the failed section of pipe to a third-party lab for mechanical and metallurgical testing. Additionally, the company must conduct a root cause analysis of the failure and review all in-line inspection reports from the past 10 years to identify any anomalies that may be present in the failed pipe or elsewhere in the system.

Acting administrator Ben Kochman emphasized the importance of determining the cause of the accident, stating that PHMSA investigators are on the ground in North Dakota and in South Bow’s control room facility in Calgary.

In addition to these measures, the order requires an evaluation of the pipeline’s special permit, which allows it to operate at higher pressures than normal, to determine if any new conditions are necessary.

South Bow is still investigating the cause of the spill near Fort Ransom, ND, and the affected pipeline segment cannot be restarted until approval is given by the U.S. agency. The company is aiming to restore service and energy deliveries by Tuesday.

Response and recovery efforts are ongoing, with crews preparing to repair and replace the affected section of pipe. Cleanup activities using vacuum trucks and other equipment will continue over the weekend. Operating pressures on the Canadian sections of Keystone will also be restricted as per agreements with Canadian energy regulators.

The Keystone Pipeline stretches over 4,300 kilometres from Alberta to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Texas. The spill has raised concerns about the potential impacts on energy prices, particularly for gasoline and diesel.

South Bow remains committed to the safety of personnel and the environment, stating, “Our primary focus remains on the safety of onsite personnel and mitigating risk to the environment. We are committed to the community surrounding Fort Ransom and will continue clean-up activities until the site is fully remediated.”