Cleanup continues at Keystone spill site, more contaminated soil found

Crews working cleanup at the site of a Keystone I pipeline spill near Freeman have found and removed more contaminated soil while repairing the pipeline.

Additional pockets of contamination were found as part of the normal cleanup process, according to TransCanada, the company that owns the underground line, and the South Dakota Department of Natural Resources.

One of the two landowners directly impacted by the April 2 spill said Tuesday he noticed an uptick in heavy digging on his property. Rains had slowed the work somewhat in the days before.

“When that crew showed up this morning, they did some serious digging again,” Galen Heckenlaible said.

Heckenlaible also said nearly two rows of trees have been removed since the work began. The initial work to discover the source of the slow leak exposed more than 100 feet of pipe.

“It’s more than I ever expected it to be,” Heckenlaible said.

Pipeline spill prompts political responses

The contaminated soil is not the result of a new leak, however. The pipeline remains operational and the estimated size of the spill has not changed, said company spokesman Mark Cooper.

“Our restoration work continues to ensure that impacted soil is removed and disposed of safely,” Cooper said Tuesday. “We also need to remove additional soil in order to complete the permanent repair on the section of pipeline. As we do that, we may encounter other pockets of impacted soil that requires removal.”

Cooper also said that the increased activity on the site is related to the rain, which required the removal of water from the dig site.

The additional contamination was not a surprise to the DENR, according to Groundwater Quality Program Supervisor Bill Markley. TransCanada is following the pipe and testing soils in the affected area, as required by federal and state regulators, Markley said.

“They’re spreading out from the line and finding the outer edges,” Markley said.

The initial size of the spill, which was discovered by a passerby, was reported to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center at 187 gallons, or 4.5 barrels. The estimate jumped to 400 barrels – 16,800 gallons – five days later.

A corrective action order from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued April 9 said a contractor found a gird weld anomaly leaking at a rate of two drops a minute on April 7. The pipeline had been shut off for five days at that point.

Markley said the company’s been in daily contact with the DENR since the spill was observed, and that company representatives told the agency that it planned to begin hauling dirt away from the site at a rate of about 20 truckloads a day.

The waste is being disposed of at a Waste Management facility in Glencoe, Minn., Markley said.

Cooper said the company is working to “return the land to a natural state,” and that there has been no significant environmental damage form the leak.

John Hult is the Reader's Watchdog reporter for Argus Leader Media. Contact him with questions and concerns at 605-331-2301, 605-370-8617. You can tweet him @ArgusJHult or find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ArgusReadersWatchdog