Keystone Pipeline nearly finished in North Dakota

A spokesman for the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline says its construction in North Dakota is nearly finished and the company plans to start filling the 30-in. pipeline with heavy crude oil before the end of the year.
As reported by the KFYR television station of Bismarck, company spokesman Jeff Rauh said filling the pipeline will take about four months, and indicated that crews will check conditions along the route and at pumping stations.
    The pipeline runs 218 miles through North Dakota on its way from Alberta to Illinois and Oklahoma. Construction of the North Dakota pump stations started last year.
    The company restored an area in the Pembina Gorge area near Walhalla, after sinkholes developed last spring in the soil over looking the Pembina River. Rauh said Keystone and the North Dakota Forestry Service have a monitoring plan in place.