Officials with TransCanada say they’re working on an in-depth investigation into a leak that put 400 barrels of crude oil into the ground near Freeman, South Dakota. TransCanada shut down the Keystone oil pipeline for one week to find the problem and fix it.
TransCanada crews found the source of an oil leak Friday, worked to repair it over the weekend, and had crude oil flowing through the Keystone pipeline by Sunday.
Mark Cooper with TransCanada says the company is analyzing the root cause of the oil leak and he can’t offer details until the investigation is complete.
"The only thing I’m able to say is that, after exposing some 350 feet of pipe, we identified a small area of pipe that we determined to be the source, and that was repaired, and that repair was approved by the regulator," Cooper says.
Authorities discovered the leak because a landowner noticed a sheen on the soil. The 16,800-gallon leak didn’t trigger any warnings on the pipeline’s alert system. That has some property owners wondering if undetected leaks happen elsewhere along the line.
Cooper says TransCanada is working on a comprehensive investigation to figure out what happened.
"TransCanada’s goal is zero incidents, and anything that we learn here will be applied to take us closer to that goal," Cooper says.
Cooper says the alert system has multiple layers, including computerized pressure monitoring, flyover information, and on-the-ground observation.
He says the company is operating the Keystone oil pipeline at reduced pressure until parts of the investigation are complete and the federal regulator approves pushing crude oil at full capacity
