The Keystone XL pipeline has been in the news for the reason pipeline owners and oil industry least like. A massive spill in Kansas last week led to thousands of barrels of oil being inadvertently released. The pipeline route passed over a vital aquifer that provided water for drinking and irrigation. Most crude-oil spills aren’t from pipelines, but from other systems of transit including rail and trucks. The amount released from pipeline spills is more than three times that lost from train-based accidents. Not all of what is spilled is lost; substantial portions are recovered.
