Lawmakers fear spill on Keystone system in southern Kansas

By JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State lawmakers worry that southern Kansas is vulnerable to oil spills from the Keystone pipeline system because earthquakes have become more frequent there. They raised the concern Tuesday as they questioned an executive for the pipeline’s operator about a massive spill in northeastern Kansas in December. A vice president of Canada-based TC Energy is briefing three Kansas legislative committees about the Dec. 7 rupture on the Keystone pipeline in Washington County, Kansas. The company expects cleanup efforts to last at least into the summer. But several lawmakers said they are nervous about the pipeline in the Wichita area about 160 miles south because of earthquake activity.