(Calgary) TC Energy said Friday that an independent investigation into an oil spill from its Keystone pipeline in December found the incident was caused by a crack in a weld made during pipeline construction.
The Calgary-based company says the affected pipe segment was subjected to “unintentional bending stresses” during construction, which caused a small crack that progressed over time until the pipe broke after a decade of service.
According to TC Energy, the results are consistent with results from a previous metallurgical analysis, the results of which were released by the company in February.
A US regulator had ordered TC Energy to hire a third-party investigation after about 13,000 barrels of oil spilled from the Keystone pipeline in Washington County, Kansas in December.
The Canadian company is still on hand to clean up the mess. It claims to have recovered 98% of the spilled oil and cleaned up 90% of the banks of the affected creek.
Last month, the US Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Administration expressed concern about the risk of further leaks from Keystone and directed TC Energy to operate the pipeline at reduced pressure until it receives written approval from the regulator.
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