Keystone pipeline operator says faulty welding and other problems led to the Kansas oil spill

Crews work on oil recovery at Mill Creek on Dec. 28, 2022. Environmental Protection Agency
Crews work on oil recovery at Mill Creek on Dec. 28, 2022. Environmental Protection Agency

Celia Llopis-Jepsen Kansas News Service

February 9, 2023

Canadian oil company TC Energy said [in early February] that faulty welding caused an “instantaneous rupture” in its Keystone pipeline that gushed hundreds of thousands of gallons of extra sticky tar sands crude oil onto Kansas native prairie, cropland and into a creek.

Meanwhile, the pipeline operator now estimates less oil escaped than o r i …