TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard says in an email that inspections of the pipeline revealed “small imperfections.” He says nine sections totaling about 81 feet will be repaired. He says 75 percent of the pipeline in Texas is complete. Howard says it will be in operation by late 2013.
The 485-mile pipeline currently under construction will carry oil sands crude from a hub in Cushing, Okla., to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
It is meant to eventually connect to a 1,179-mile Keystone XL pipeline which would bring crude from Canada. That larger project has not received a required permit from the Obama administration.