“...Bad welds?...”
Knowing the 3rd party testing and NDE requirements for DOT pipelines, I seriously doubt it is bad welds. I would suspect sabotage long before bad welds, especially on a new line like this and with this hearing coming up next week. Yeah, it reeks of sabotage. IF they can find there perp, the charges should go to the max allowed.
Keystone Phase 1 and Keystone XL are not the same route of pipeline. Phase 1 completed in 2010 is the one passing through Marshall County of North-East South Dakota. Keystone XL is a proposed and now authorized shortcut passing through the Williston Basin area of Montana.
Donald Trump signed a presidential permit to allow TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline in March 2017.