TOPEKA, Kan.—A faulty weld at a bend in an oil pipeline contributed to a spill that dumped nearly 13,000 bathtubs’ worth of crude oil into a northeastern Kansas creek, the pipeline’s operator said Thursday, estimating the cost of cleaning it up at $480 million.
Canadian-based TC Energy said the flawed weld caused a crack that then grew over time because of the stress on the bend in its Keystone pipeline system in rural pastureland in Washington County, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City. The company said the weld was for a fitting that connected two sections of pipe, and the fitting and weld came from a manufacturing plant….