A pipeline marker shows where the Keystone Pipeline is buried near Walhalla, North Dakota. The pipeline, now operated by South Bow, leaked on Tuesday at a site in Barnes County, North Dakota. (Amy Dalrymple/North Dakota Monitor)

Keystone Pipeline shut down after leak in North Dakota, native tribes concerned

FORT RANSOM, N.D. – The operator of the Keystone Pipeline that carries oil from Canada into the U.S. has shut the pipeline down after a leak in North Dakota.

South Bow shut down the pipeline at 7:42 a.m. Tuesday after a drop in pressure. The spill was about three miles north of Fort Ransom State Park or six miles south of Kathryn in Barnes County.

South Bow on Tuesday estimated that 3,500 barrels, or about 147,000 gallons, spilled.

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality said the oil was contained to a farm field south of a pipeline pump station.

Bill Suess with the Division of Water Quality for DEQ said it was not clear how many acres of the field were contaminated.

Suess said the pipeline was shut down within minutes of the pressure dropping.

He said it was unknown how long the pipeline would be shut down.

Following this latest Keystone pipeline leak, Native American communities, particularly those with historical ties to the area, have expressed concerns about potential environmental and health impacts, echoing their long-standing opposition to the pipeline and its proposed extension, Keystone XL.

The pipeline is 30 inches in diameter in that area, Suess said, but did not know how deep it was buried.

The pipeline takes oil from Alberta east to Manitoba and then south through the Midwest, including South Dakota, to the Gulf Coast.

Suess said the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration would be on site Wednesday to investigate. The Department of Environmental Quality will oversee cleanup efforts.

People are also reading...

Weather

loader-image
Rapid City, US
9:59 am, April 28, 2025
temperature icon 52°F
mist
Humidity 87 %
Pressure 1001 mb
Wind 23 mph
Wind Gust: 38 mph
Visibility: 1.811 km
Sunrise: 5:48 am
Sunset: 7:52 pm
Jace Thurman

Market News

Share via
Copy link