TransCanada dug up 84 metres of pipe to find leak
CALGARY _ TransCanada engineers and the U.S. pipeline regulator are working out the best way to fix a segment of the Keystone system that spilled oil in South Dakota.
The Calgary-based company says crews safely dug up about 84 metres of pipe to find the leak.
Once repairs are complete, TransCanada and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration will work on returning the 590,000-barrel-a-day line to service.
The company estimates about 63,600 litres, or 400 barrels, of crude leaked about 60 kilometres southwest of Sioux Falls, S.D.
TransCanada says there’s been no threat to public safety or apparent significant environmental impact.
The cross-border system, which has been in operation since 2010, is not expected to reopen until at least early next week.
The proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which was rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama in November, would have been an expansion to the existing system, providing a more direct route for oilsands crude to reach Gulf Coast refineries.
The Canadian Press