South Bow Corp. has completed all repairs, inspections and required testing on the Keystone Pipeline, six days after an oil release halted operations, the company said in an email to Hart Energy on April 14.

“South Bow is carefully monitoring inclement weather conditions before being able to proceed with a carefully controlled restart of the Keystone Pipeline today,” said Solomiya Lyaskovska, South Bow communications adviser.

The Calgary, Canada-based midstream company ceased pumping on the line after a crude release of 3,500 bbl at Keystone’s Milepost 171 (MP-171), near Fort Ransom, North Dakota.

Keystone’s nameplate capacity is 591,000 bbl/d. To restart, South Bow received the required permission from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on April 14 to restart flows on the line.

The pipeline’s capacity will be limited upon startup, according to South Bow, as the Keystone will operate under a pressure restriction for the time being. The Canadian section of the line will also operate under a pressure restriction, under the orders of the Canada Energy Regulator.

The PHMSA issued a corrective action order (CAO) requiring South Bow to take certain actions. The failed pipeline section will have to be removed and undergo testing, inspection records will be reviewed and a remedial work plan will be submitted by the company.

“Multiple PHMSA investigators are on the ground in North Dakota and in the operator’s control room facility in Calgary working to determine the cause of the accident,” said PHMSA Acting Administrator Ben Kochman in an agency press release.  

Environmental group uproar

Environmental activist group Greenpeace issued a statement following the spill, calling the incident an illustration of the hazardous nature of crude transport.

In March, the court ordered Greenpeace to pay $600 million in damages to Energy Transfer, which sued the group for defamation, trespass and conspiracy for its actions during a prolonged protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

“The Keystone spill—the latest in a long history of spills—shows exactly why we need to protect protest, free speech and the right to speak up against harm,” Greenpeace spokeswoman Lindsay Bigda said in statement.

Air monitoring at the site has not indicated a public hazard to health, South Bow said.

“We appreciate the ongoing oversight and expertise of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, PHMSA, Ransom County and other local, state and federal agencies,” Lyaskovska said.

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