"KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures.
But despite a history of warnings and large spills, the Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — of oil in northern Kansas. It’s the largest spill since the pipeline began operations about a decade ago.
After more than 20 spills, the crude oil pipeline’s Canadian owner, TC Energy, has paid just over $300,000 fines. That’s 0.2% of the more than $111 million in property damage it has caused. That doesn’t include the damage from its latest spill, which has yet to be totaled.
“This has been a long-standing systemic problem,” Kenneth Clarkson, a spokesman for Pipeline Safety Trust, said in a statement. “The fines are just not meaningful to these extremely profitable operators.”"
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