Kansas' air rife with petroleum fumes following huge oil spill
Multiple clean-up crews were gearing up for a rough weekend in the state of Kansas in the aftermath of one of the largest crude oil leaks on US soil in more than a decade.
Crew has been pouring in to help with the clean-up, even all the way from Mississippi.
According to witnesses interviewed by news agency Reuters, a pungent smell of oil hangs in the air. With close to freezing temperatures, crews present are preparing for several days of work.
Generators and lights are being shipped off to the muddy area, where ground mats are necessary as well.
Federal investigators have also arrived at the scene to help determine the cause of the leak. A total of 14,000 barrels of crude oil coming in from western Canada has leaked from the Keystone pipeline.
According to lobbyist of environmental organization Sierra Club in Kansas Zack Pistora, extensive clean-up efforts await.
”This is going to be months, maybe even years before we get the full handle on this disaster and know the extent of the damage and get it all cleaned up,” Pistora says, according to news agency Associated Press.
The leak was discovered Wednesday by TC Energy, the operator of the oil pipeline. The flow of oil was halted immediately upon discovery, reports news agency AFP.
In total, TC Energy has dispatched 100 workers to the site.
The leak occurred in Washington County, approx. 320 kilometers northwest of Kansas City. Around 5,000 people live in the county.
Local water supply has not been compromised, and citizens in the local area have not had to evacuate.
The Keystone oil pipeline usually transmits approx. 600,000 barrels of oil per day from western Canada to numerous sites across the US, according to AFP.
The price of oil climbed briefly in the wake of the leak, but has since gone down again.
TC Energy plans to restart certain stretches of the oil pipeline over the weekend, anonymous sources tell Bloomberg. Other stretches will come back online at a later juncture.
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