Of all the many reasons to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline—the continent-spanning death funnel and conservative fetish object—the utter bad faith of TC, the Canadian energy giant formerly known as TransCanada, is right at the top of the list. It is a truism in this shebeen a) that pipelines leak, and b) that, when an inevitable leak happens, the companies that build and own pipelines will lie about it.

What many people don’t realize is that TC already owns and operates the Keystone 1 pipeline. Last month, because it is a pipeline and pipelines leak, the Keystone 1 loosed almost 400,000 gallons of oil onto the landscape of North Dakota. And, because it is a pipeline company, TC is now accused of low-balling the extent of the damage. From CNN:



Initial reports of the leak released by TC Energy and North Dakota's Department of Environmental Quality estimated about 2,500 square yards of land were affected by the spill. Now, they have both revised the size of the impacted area to 4.8 acres, or 23,232 square yards -- that's almost ten times the original estimate.

The new estimate includes both the surface and subsurface impact of the leak. The initial 2,500-square-yard estimate was based on visual observations alone, the company told CNN. "During our initial response to the incident, we immediately sectioned off a larger area (approx. 25,000 square yards) around the visibly impacted section to secure the area, provide for wildlife deterrent and air monitoring purposes," a TC Energy representative told CNN in an email.

Despite this initial identification of 25,000 square yards to be blocked off, TC Energy did not update their website to reflect this number until Tuesday -- after media reports of the large increase in impact estimates were released.



Honest to blog, enough with these people. There is no reason in the world to allow this company to run so much as a filling station at this point, let alone allow it to build and operate a death-funnel that transports the dirtiest fossil fuel ever discovered through some of the most delicate and valuable farmland on the planet.



"It's not a singular leak. Look at the history," said Kandi White, a Native Energy and Climate Campaign Coordinator with the Indigenous Environmental Network. TC's most notable leak occurred in 2017 after about 210,000 gallons of oil leaked from the Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota, prompting monthslong protests which drew up to 10,000 people at there [sic] peak. The company's Keystone XL Pipeline would extend the pipe system, beginning in Alberta and ending in Nebraska, cutting through Montana and South Dakota.



Leakers and liars, all of them.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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