Keystone pipeline spills in Kansas, dirtying creek and causing oil prices to spike

Canadian company TC Energy estimated that 14,000 barrels of oil spilled near the Kansas-Nebraska border.
An oil spill in north-central Kansas fouled a creek Wednesday night and prompted the emergency shutdown of a major international pipeline.

People in Washington County, just south of the Nebraska border, woke Thursday morning to the smell of gas, the county’s emergency management agency wrote on social media.

Canadian company TC Energy didn’t answer questions Thursday morning about the Keystone pipeline leak and how far the oil traveled downstream in Mill Creek.

It pointed to a press release instead.

“We have shut down the Keystone Pipeline System and mobilized people and equipment,” the statement said. “The affected segment has been isolated, and booms deployed to control downstream migration.”