BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Oil pipeline accidents have become increasingly frequent in the U.S. as Congress pushes for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

An Associated Press review of government accident records shows their numbers growing each year since 2009, reversing a decade-long declining trend.

Keystone would pass near where 30,000 gallons of crude spilled into Montana's Yellowstone River earlier this month.

The recent breach temporarily fouled a city's water supply and became the latest in a string of spills to highlight ongoing problems with maintenance of the nation's crude pipeline network.

Yet in the politically charged debate over Keystone, its detractors aren't the only ones seizing on the Yellowstone spill.

So are lawmakers who support the project including Montana Sen. Steve Daines.

He says Keystone would be safer than older pipelines like the one that broke.

(Story by: Matthew Brown, The Associated Press)

 

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