The Keystone oil pipeline's four largest spill accidents since operation started in 2010 were caused by issues related to its original design, manufacture or construction, the U.S. Government Accountability Office says in a new report.
The analysis says two the two largest spills in 2017 and 2019 on the 2,687-mile line from Alberta, Canada to Illinois, with a segment south to Gulf Coast terminals, discharged nearly 13,000 barrels of oil in North Dakota and South Dakota. These dropped the line's safety ranking to "worse than the nationwide average" from 2015 to 2020, although most of its other 16 spills since 2010 were 50 barrels or less.