Keystone pipeline operator agrees to $26.9m penalty and $40m prevention plan over 2022 Kansas spill

South Bow has agreed to pay a $26.9m civil penalty and spend $40m on prevention measures to resolve allegations over the 2022 Keystone pipeline oil spill in Kansas.

• The proposed settlement, filed in US district court, would resolve EPA and Kansas allegations that South Bow violated clean water laws; a judge must approve after a 30-day public comment period.
• EPA assistant administrator Jeffrey Hall said the spill "blanketed land and water" and that the penalty "reflects the seriousness of the environmental harm."
• The December 2022 rupture spilled nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude into a creek; no injuries occurred, but over 2,700 animals were harmed or killed.
• A complaint filed with the settlement stated that a pipe bend had been overstressed since installation in 2010 and that soil under the pipe had been improperly compacted.