Pipeline spill in South Dakota twice as big as first thought

ABERDEEN, S.D. — A crude oil spill from the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota last November has turned out to be nearly twice as big as first reported.

A spokeswoman for pipeline owner TransCanada tells the Aberdeen American News that around 407,000 gallons (338,900 imperial gallons) spilled onto farmland when the pipeline broke near Amherst in Marshall County on Nov. 16. TransCanada had originally put the spill at 210,000 gallons (174,860 imperial gallons).

The new number would make the spill the seventh-largest onshore oil or petroleum product spills since 2010, as reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Repairs have since been made and the cleanup is done. TransCanada resumed using the pipeline 12 days after the leak.

The Keystone Pipeline carries oil more than 2,600 miles (4,180 kilometres) from Alberta, Canada, to Oklahoma and Illinois.

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Information from: Aberdeen American News, http://www.aberdeennews.com