KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cleanup in the days since a section of the Keystone pipeline in northern Kansas burst and spilled 14,000 barrels of crude oil started with extracting the oil itself.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says crews are using temporary dams, machinery and vacuum pumps to remove the oil from the water and excavate oil-stained earth and plant life.
The pipeline runs from Canada, carrying a type oil extracted from tar sands called diluted bitumen.
Some studies show it's a special challenge to clean up with a highly sticky, almost peanut-butter-like consistency.
Still, the EPA says nearly 24,000 gallons of the stuff has been recovered directly from the pipeline.
Much of the oil spilled into the nearby Mill Creek, so roughly 485,000 gallons of an oil-water mixture has also been removed.
The spill hasn't been without environmental cost.
The EPA says nearly five miles of the creek is still visibly impacted, and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has found the leak killed four mammals and just over 70 fish.
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