South Dakota Oil Spill Reveals Major Pipeline Problems

When I trespassed across America in 2012 as part of my 1,700-mile hike along the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline, I fell in love with South Dakota: its big skies, its gently rolling grasslands, its herds of deer and pronghorn. Despite being hit by blizzards and stampeded by cows and called “crazy” every day, South Dakota would settle into my memory as one of the grandest places I’ve ever visited.

Most of this land, though, was considered by TransCanada, the Canadian pipeline company that wanted to build the Keystone XL, to be “low consequence,” a designation that TransCanada sought to apply so that they could use a thinner pipe.

http://time.com/4292856/south-dakota-oil-spill/