For Immediate Release
Friday, November 1, 2019
On Thursday, the Keystone 1 pipeline spilled 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota, covering an estimated half-acre of wetlands. This is the sixth major oil spill for Keystone 1, totalling an amount of almost 1 million gallons of oil leaked from the pipeline since it began operating in 2010. The U.S. State Department is currently soliciting public comments on the proposed Keystone XL on its revised environmental impact statement for the pipeline.
The following is a statement from Kendall Mackey, 350.org U.S. Campaigner for Keep It In The Ground: “This is not the first time that the Keystone Pipeline has leaked and it will not be the last. Disasters like these are among the many reasons we’ve been fighting the Keystone XL for almost a decade, watching as each new spill from Keystone 1 and other major pipelines render ecosystems unlivable for thousands of people. Despite what TC Energy says, we know that these spills are inevitable and demonstrate why we cannot allow Keystone XL to be completed.
“Not only must Keystone XL be stopped, but Congress must hold TC Energy accountable and demand that they pay for the care and repair needed for the devastating ecological destruction that communities are forced to endure. There is no such thing as a safe fossil fuel pipeline, nor a future in which pipelines can exist without harming people and the planet. Indigenous people, farmers, and workers have been advocating for a just transition away from pipelines to 100% renewable energy.”
Press Contact: Monica Mohapatra, U.S. Communications Specialist, [email protected]
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