Four years after one of the largest inland U.S. oil spills happened in northeast Kansas, the operators of the Keystone Pipeline are paying $3 million to Kansas for remediation projects and will have to complete $40 million in work and caught up nearly $27 million in fines.
South Bow and South Bow Infrastructure Operations Inc. , owners and operators of the pipeline, recently reached an agreement with Kansas after the 2022 spill that poured 13,000 barrels of oil into Mill Creek near the northern Kansas town of Washington. They also agreed to pay more than $26.8 million as a civil penalty, according to a consent decree filed Friday. The consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas and is subject to a 30-day public comment period, according to the Kansas Reflector.
The 298-mile-long line stretches from Nebraska and carries oil to the Cushing Hub in Oklahoma. This specific stretch to Oklahoma operates with a nominal capacity to move 591,000 barrels per day. The line is part of a longer effort to move Canadian oil south to the Gulf Coast refineries.
The Justice Department announced the settlement and said the $40 million will go toward pipeline work to prevent future similar spills.
“South Bow has also agreed to contribute over $3 million to the state of Kansas towards natural resource restoration projects to resolve violations of Kansas state laws,” the news release said.
“This case demonstrates why the oil pipelines crossing our heartland must be maintained properly. The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” said Jeffrey Hall, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
The spill dumped about 588,000 gallons of oil when a 36-inch pipeline ruptured, and it took nearly a year before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Mill Creek was flowing naturally. The oil from the high-pressure line was carried three miles downstream. According to the EPA in 2023, about 650,000 gallons of oil from the ruptured line was recovered. The agency also said 200,000 tons of oil-impacted soil, sediment and debris had to be removed.
