Keystone XL Pipeline Oil Spill

Danielle Durak, Entertainment Editor

The Keystone pipeline is an oil pipeline system that runs from Canada to the United States. It was commissioned in 2010 and is owned by the TransCanada corporation. Recently, there have been sparked controversies because the pipeline had a gigantic oil leak on November 16th, 2017.

It has been infamously reported by the pipeline’s operator, TransCanada “That the Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota.”  The pipeline was shut down on the morning of November 16th and the cause of the leak is still being investigated.

According to CNN, “The incident occurred 3 miles southeast of the town of Amherst”, explained Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources. It was also reported as the largest Keystone oil spill to date in South Dakota.

A few days before the incident, there was deemed to be another pipeline to be put in along with the original before it raptured. The name of this pipeline happened to be Keystone XL pipeline, a sister project.

According to the New York Times, “This is not a little spill from any perspective. No Livestock or drinking water sources appeared to be threatened, and no houses or farm buildings are within a mile,” stated Kim McIntosh, an environmental scientist with the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

With further explanation, Keystone XL has the strong support of Donald Trump. According to NBC news, Erik Ortiz stated, “Trump pledged it would bring new jobs, lower energy costs for Americans and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign oil.” However, it has faced years of vocal opposition from Nebraska with ranchers and farmers who worry that a spill could spoil their groundwater and annihilate agricultural land. It can be determined that the leak of the pipeline had created a major hurdle for the input of the XL pipeline.

Walsh later stated, “It will be a few days until they can excavate and get in borings to see if there is groundwater contamination.” The pipeline was shut down within minutes after they had captured the incident. Walsh had also expressed “There were no initial reports of the oil spill affecting waterways, water systems or wildlife. It can be concluded that the spill is now under control.