Author

Allison Kite is a data reporter for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector, with a focus on the environment and agriculture. A graduate of the University of Kansas, she’s covered state government in both Topeka and Jefferson City, and most recently was City Hall reporter for The Kansas City Star.
Crews will reroute Mill Creek after massive Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas
By: Allison Kite - January 3, 2023
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Crews will reroute Mill Creek to avoid the site of the Keystone Pipeline’s largest-ever oil spill, the oil pipeline’s parent company announced Tuesday. The Keystone pipeline, which runs from Canada to Texas and Illinois, spilled 14,000 barrels of oil near the Kansas-Nebraska border in early December. The spill — the latest in […]
Water debate will return to Kansas Legislature amid staggering drought
By: Allison Kite - December 26, 2022
Legislators are almost certain to place the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer among their top priorities as the drought bearing down on Western Kansas hits the already depleted water supply. Every inch of Kansas is either abnormally dry or in a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with most of the western half of […]
Drone no-fly zone issued over Keystone oil spill site in Kansas
By: Allison Kite - December 20, 2022
TC Energy has established a no-fly zone over the Kansas site where its Keystone pipeline spilled 14,000 barrels of oil following drone footage of the disaster. The Canadian company said in a statement that it did so for safety reasons. But drone footage of the spill — the largest in the pipeline’s history — was among the […]
‘It’s time to deal with this’: Kansas Water Authority wants to save Ogallala Aquifer
By: Allison Kite - December 15, 2022
COLBY — Kansas should scrap its de facto policy of draining the Ogallala Aquifer, a state board decided Wednesday. Instead, the board said, the Kansas government should take steps to stop the decline of the aquifer and save it for future generations. “It has taken decades for this to be said formally in writing by […]
Keystone Pipeline has history of spills, warnings and fines. Kansas spill is largest yet.
By: Allison Kite - December 13, 2022
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal regulators have issued warnings repeatedly over the life of the Keystone pipeline that operators aren’t doing enough to prevent corrosion and don’t follow proper construction procedures. But despite a history of warnings and large spills, the Keystone pipeline failed again last week, dumping 14,000 barrels — or 588,000 gallons — […]
Regulators order Keystone Pipeline to investigate after 14,000 barrels spill in Kansas
By: Allison Kite - December 9, 2022
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Federal regulators have ordered operators to temporarily shut down part of the Keystone Pipeline in northern Kansas after it spilled 14,000 barrels of crude oil. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order, its strictest enforcement, Thursday evening. It orders the pipeline’s operators to […]
Kansas regulators want to slash Evergy’s energy efficiency plan
By: Allison Kite - November 23, 2022
Regulators’ opposition could unravel a consensus plan to provide millions of dollars in energy efficiency programs to Evergy’s Kansas customers. Evergy, the largest electric utility in Kansas, came to agreement with consumer and environmental advocates on a variety of programs meant to lower energy demand and save customers close to $100 million over four years. […]
Kansas, western Missouri at low risk for insufficient electrical supply this winter
By: Allison Kite - November 18, 2022
The electrical grid that covers Kansas and western Missouri is expected to have plenty of power to keep up with demand this winter. But in the event of severe weather, the St. Louis area could be at risk. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation released its winter outlook Thursday assessing potential vulnerabilities to the grid. […]
Federal wildlife officials list lesser prairie chicken as threatened in Kansas
By: Allison Kite - November 17, 2022
Federal wildlife officials have listed the iconic lesser prairie chicken as threatened across its Kansas habitat, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. The bird is in even more dire straits in the southwest, where it will be listed as endangered. The listing comes after years of fighting by wildlife advocates to protect the […]
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly pledges focus on water: ‘Waiting for a miracle is not an option’
By: Allison Kite - November 16, 2022
MANHATTAN — Kansans have “a responsibility to do something” about the state’s rapidly depleting water supply and the risk of widespread contamination, Gov. Laura Kelly said at a conference Wednesday in Manhattan. “Waiting for a miracle is not an option,” she told a crowd of about 500 at the 11th annual Governor’s Conference on the […]
Even some GOP voters in Kansas support abortion. But Laura Kelly rarely talks about it.
By: Allison Kite - October 24, 2022
It would be easy to assume Elaine Gail doesn’t support abortion rights. She’s a lifelong Republican whose parents worked for Republican campaigns in Kansas. She traveled with “Dolls for Dole,” a group of costumed young women who sang at campaign stops for the late Sen. Bob Dole, who once supported a Constitutional amendment to ban […]
Officials plan to truck 6,000 gallons of water from Missouri River across Kansas
By: Allison Kite - October 21, 2022
An agency charged with conserving groundwater in arid western Kansas plans to truck thousands of gallons of water from the Missouri River nearly 400 miles almost to the Colorado border. Half of the 6,000 gallons drawn from the river will be poured onto a property in Wichita County. The other half will be taken into […]