44K gallons recovered so far from Keystone pipeline spill

The company behind the Keystone XL pipeline that leaked last week, spilling more than 200,000 gallons of oil into the South Dakota countryside, says it is making progress with cleanup efforts.

TransCanada Corp. announced Friday that it has recovered more than 44,000 gallons of oil so far from the spill site, which is located in Amherst, S.D., according to Reuters.

The company was forced to shut down the 590,000 barrel-per-day pipeline on Nov. 16 when a leak of more than 5,000 barrels of oil, or about 210,000 gallons, was reported.

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A statement from TransCanada promised that the company had tested local drinking water to make sure it wasn’t contaminated. The company has added at least 170 personnel to deal with the spill, according to Reuters.

“As a safety precaution, TransCanada sampled one residential water well yesterday at a location about 1.5 miles from the site to alleviate any concerns — all test results were normal,” TransCanada said.

The company announced in a statement last week that protecting the environment remained one of its “top priorities.”

“TransCanada appreciates the collaborative support of local officials, emergency response personnel and commissioners in Marshall County, as well as the landowner who has given permission to access land for assessment, identification and clean-up activities,” the company said.

“The safety of the public and environment are our top priorities and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.”

On Wednesday, a federal judge allowed a key lawsuit against the pipeline’s permit to move forward in the wake of the spill despite protests from the Trump administration. The lawsuit over the project’s permit is one of the key roadblocks in the way of the pipeline.