TransCanada Corp. said Monday that it has shut down parts of the Keystone pipeline for the rest of the week while the company investigates a spill in southeastern South Dakota. The leak was first reported Saturday afternoon in Hutchinson County when workers found signs of oil on a 10- to 30-foot area of ground about four miles from TransCanada’s Freeman pump station.
TransCanada said it began excavating soil surrounding the spill on Sunday. The company said no significant environmental impact has been observed. TransCanada also notified regulators and the company is cooperating with various agencies on the investigation.
The 3,000-mile long Keystone pipeline runs from the Canadian province of Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma, passing through the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. It delivers product to a refinery and oil terminal in Illinois, storage facilities at Cushing, Oklahoma and refineries in Port Arthur, Texas.
The pipeline will remain shut for the rest of the week while the investigation is underway. TransCanada said the Marketlink pipeline system, which uses the Keystone’s southern leg from Cushing to the Gulf Coast, will remain operational.
