Keystone leaks 383,000 gallons in North Dakota on the same day as Trump state department’s pipeline hearing

The Keystone pipeline, that carries tar sands oil from Canada through seven states, leaked more than 383,000 gallons of oil according to North Dakota regulators. The company has promised the spill has been contained but the cause is still unknown. 

The leak was noticed on Tuesday and the pipeline has been shut down since, but its damage spread 1,500 feet long by 15 feet wide. State Environmental Quality Chief Dave Glatt stated some wetlands were affected but not any drinking water sources. 

According to Common Dreams, on the same day the pipeline began leaking the Trump State Department held its sole public hearing on an environmental analysis of the widely opposed Keystone XL project. The Trump administration has worked hard to approve and accelerate the project over the protests and legal challenges of indigenous rights organizations and green groups. Keystone XL would carry up to 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska.

A decade of studies said #KeystoneXL would be safe…
2011: 14000 gallons
2012: ‘deep corrosion issues’
2016: 16800 gallons
2017: 210000 gallons
2018: 408000 gallons
Feb 2019: 500 gallons
Oct 2019: ‘unknown quantity’ pic.twitter.com/scwifsGlZr

— Jason Morris (@the_jizzle) October 31, 2019