Kansas residents hold their noses as crews mop up massive U.S. oil spill

Residents near the site of the worst U.S. oil pipeline leak in a decade took the commotion and smell in stride as cleanup crews labored in near-freezing temperatures, and investigators searched for clues to what caused the spill, Qazet.az reports.

A heavy odor of oil hung in the air as tractor trailers ferried generators, lighting and ground mats to a muddy site on the outskirts of this farming community, where a breach in the Keystone pipeline discovered on Wednesday spewed 14,000 barrels of oil.

Pipeline operator TC Energy (TRP.TO) said on Friday it was evaluating plans to restart the line, which carries 622,000 barrels per day of Canadian oil to U.S. refineries and export hubs.

"We could smell it first thing in the morning; it was bad," said Washington resident Dana Cecrle, 56. He shrugged off the disruption: "Stuff breaks. Pipelines break, oil trains derail."

TC Energy did not provide details of the breach or say when a restart on the broken segment could begin. Officials are scheduled on Monday to receive a briefing on the pipeline breach and cleanup, said Washington County's emergency preparedness coordinator, Randy Hubbard, on Saturday.