Keystone Clunker: Pipeline Spill and Shutdown Spotlights Needed Reviews and Protections

WASHINGTON (April 4, 2016) – TransCanada’s first Keystone pipeline was closed over the weekend after a leak was detected on the tar sands pipeline in South Dakota.

The following is a response from Natural Resources Defense Council Canada Program Director Anthony Swift:

“This weekend’s Keystone oil spill is the latest stark reminder that all too often with pipelines it’s not whether they will leak but when. This spill clearly reinforces the need for the Obama Administration to require a thorough environmental review for Enbridge’s Alberta Clipper and other efforts to expand its Midwestern tar sands pipeline system. And that review should put protecting the public from oil infrastructure harm as the highest priority.”

Swift highlighted the pipeline’s shaky safety history in this 2012 blog post: https://www.nrdc.org/experts/anthony-swift/transcanadas-record-presents-strong-case-rejecting-keystone-xl-tar-sands

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