Keystone Pipeline ran at heightened pressure before Kansas oil spill, cause still unknown

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BY NATALIE WALLINGTON AND KATIE BERNARD
UPDATED DECEMBER 14, 2022 3:42 PM

A special exemption from 2017 allowed the Keystone Pipeline to operate at pressures above the standard for crude oil transport, a report from the federal government shows. The exemption is receiving new scrutiny following last week’s oil spill in northern Kansas, the largest in the pipeline’s history.

The cause of last week’s record-breaking oil spill is still unknown, but some activists and a state lawmaker are highlighting a need to learn more about this exception to run the pipeline at higher pressure.

“We know that the pipeline has been plagued by inherent problems associated with its original materials or installation, and sustaining greater pressure or continued corrosion over time can only make this problem worse,” Kansas Sierra Club lobbyist Zack Pistora told The Star in an email.

A 2021 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report states that the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) permitted certain segments of Keystone to operate at 80% of the maximum recommended pressure, as long as it meets certain safety criteria. Normally, pipelines cannot operate above 72% of this pressure.

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[hedda_foil]

1. The sludge doesn't move fast enough under normal pressure.

Gotta get that tar refined quick!

[magicarpet]

2. Well,.. you gotta squish the soupier shit through the pipeline from Canada,..

... to get it down to Texas so it can be cleaned of the beach sand and refined into petrol. Then it can be loaded on to ships and sent to China.

Tar sand oil sent through metallic pipelines is very abrasive and prematurely wears the walls of the pipeline down. It is like washing your glassware by using 60 grit sandpaper.

Tar sand oil is thick and gooey. Like trying to suck molasses up through a cocktail straw. It takes a lot of pressure to get the thick fluid moving through the pipe to reach a far away destination. The pressure to move that super thick sand oil through the pipeline might exceed the burst pressure of the pipeline itself. Causing connection joints, weld seams, and/or pipeline walls - to leak, then fail and/or rupture.

[Rebl2]

4. So many

people think it is being sent to TX to be refined for our use. Like you say it’s refined and sent to China or wherever, but not for United States. Our local tv station’s have suggested it might cause gas prices around here to go up. Why would that be. I am in MO on the border with KS.

[Deuxcents]

3. This was a disaster before it even happened.

We were warned n generations of land owners, our Native Tribes people all pleaded w/ the powers to be.. don’t go w/ this. Once that toxic shit gets spilled, generations suffer. Why don’t we understand this? O.. wait.. the spreadsheet..dividends.. greed. 🤬