TC Energy sends ruptured Keystone pipeline segment for testing after regulator order

Investigators, cleanup crews begin scouring oil pipeline spill in Kansas — Emergency crews work to clean up the largest U.S. crude oil spill in nearly a decade, following the leak at the Keystone pipeline operated by TC Energy in rural Washington County, Kansas, U.S., December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Drone Base/File Photo

Dec 21 (Reuters) – TC Energy (TRP.TO) said on Wednesday that it had safely removed the ruptured segment of Keystone pipeline that caused an oil spill earlier this month and sent it for metallurgical testing as directed by U.S. regulators.

TC Energy Corp had submitted its plan to restart the Keystone pipeline to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the line ruptured in the worst oil spill in the United States in nine years.

Even though a cleanup will take weeks or months, the line can still restart once it is repaired and the plan approved by the regulator.

The 622,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) pipeline was shut after it spilled oil in rural Kansas.

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The line leaked diluent bitumen, a heavy oil that tends to sink in water, making it harder to collect than oils that float. More than 400 people are involved in the cleanup, including TC workers, pipeline regulators, state and local officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

TC is required to complete an analysis of the root causes of the line’s failure by early March, or 90 days after PHMSA issued a corrective action order.

Parts of the pipeline carrying oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois opened last week at reduced capacity.