South Bow Corporation released findings from an independent root cause analysis of the Keystone Pipeline incident at Milepost 171, which occurred on April 8, 2025. The company is actively implementing remedial actions, including in-line inspections and integrity digs, under PHMSA's Corrective Action Order.
Key takeaways
South Bow received the independent third-party root cause analysis (RCA) for the incident at Milepost 171 of the Keystone Pipeline that occurred on April 8, 2025, near Fort Ransom, N.D.
The RCA determined the failure resulted from a fatigue crack originating along the pipe's manufactured long-seam weld, with seam weld geometry and hydrogen presence contributing to the failure.
The company has completed seven in-line inspection runs and 51 integrity digs to date, with preliminary results indicating no injurious issues.
South Bow submitted its remedial work plan to PHMSA for approval as part of the Corrective Action Order (CAO).
Additional in-line inspection tool runs and integrity digs are scheduled for 2026 to address RCA findings.