Company to pay over $70M in settlement for Clean Water Act Violations for 2022 pipeline rupture in Kansas
KANSAS. (KQTV) - The Justice Department and South Bow have reached a proposed settlement where the company must pay a $26.9 million civil penalty, $40 million to improve the pipeline and $3 million to Kansas to restore the damage.
On Dec. 7, 2022, the Keystone Pipeline, operated by South Bow, ruptured in Washington County, Kansas. Nearly 13,000 barrels of crude oil spilled onto the land and into Mill Creek.
According to a news release from the DOJ, the incident was a violation of the Clean Water Act, a federal law that prohibits pollution from being discharged into U.S. waterways.
“Pipelines are the safest means of transporting large quantities of oil and other liquids and gases over long distances,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) Adam Gustafson said. “However rare, when a pipeline leaks, it can quickly escalate. That’s why an important part of this proposed settlement is the work the company has committed to do to help prevent future leaks.”
While the settlement is still not final, the company would have to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty to the federal government, spend about $40 million upgrading and improving the pipeline to prevent future leaks and pay more than $3 million to Kansas for projects that restore damages made to the natural resources.
According to the complaint, after the 2022 spill, crude oil an inch thick covered Mill Creek bank-to-bank for 3.5 miles downstream of the rupture site.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued a stream advisory for Mill Creek to prohibit contact with the creek by people, livestock or pets.
The discharge covered vegetation and soil in the surrounding area, and oil residue was found in the 35 acres surrounding the discharge.
The spill killed or impacted more than 2,700 animals, according to the news release.
South Bow removed oil from the creek and surrounding areas and completed restoration of aquatic habitat, stream banks and shorelines following the 2023 EPA cleanup order.
The Pipeline is a 2,687-mile liquid oil pipeline between Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, and Port Arthur, Texas. The rupture occurred in a section that stretches from Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing, Oklahoma.
