Tagged: enbridge

The U.S. State Department has extended the public comment period on a proposal to nearly double the amount of crude oil that's shipped in a pipeline along Lake Superior.

Enbridge Energy’s Line 67, also known as the “Alberta Clipper” pipeline, runs from the tar sands region in Canada down to Wisconsin near Lake Superior. In the US, it's more than 300 miles long and three feet in diameter.

The Environmental Protection Agency says more dredging is needed to remove submerged oil in parts of the Kalamazoo River.   The oil is from a massive spill in 2010. 

It’s been two and half years since a pipeline ruptured near Marshall, spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil that eventually fouled about forty miles of the Kalamazoo River.

The EPA says more than a million gallons of oil have been recovered since the cleanup began.  But the agency says there’s still more oil submerged in the river. 

We’re rounding the corner on the three year anniversary of the Enbridge oil spill near Marshall.

The cleanup isn’t over yet and so far, more than a million gallons of thick tar sands oil have been cleaned up from the Kalamazoo River and Talmadge Creek.

State officials have been looking at possible health risks from the spill.

This week, the Michigan Department of Community Health released a report on drinking water wells along the spill zone.

There's good news and bad news for residents with drinking water wells near the Kalamazoo River. A massive oil spill contaminated the river in 2010.

State officials tested 150 of the residential water wells for contaminants.

“Now the oil related chemicals, those would have been iron and nickel, they were detected in a few wells but nothing but was levels of concern,” says Angela Minicuci, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Community Health.

The Michigan Public Service Commission today approved replacing a 16o mile section of an oil pipeline that ruptured in 2010.    This is the third and final phase of the project. 

The company is expected to install the new pipeline later this year.  It will stretch from Berrien County in the west to St. Clair County in the east.    The new pipeline will replace the section of pipe that broke near Marshall nearly two and a half years ago.

Enbridge’s pipeline replacement project has run into some opposition, mainly from people who don’t like having no say over having the pipeline built on their property.

“Enbridge is working with homeowners on addressing some concerns where they can…they are making changes to accommodate people’s concerns," says Judy Palnau, a Michigan Public Service Commission spokeswoman.

The Kalamazoo River continues to recover from the 2010 oil spill. 

Cleanup crews have removed more than a million gallons of crude oil from along more than 30 miles of the river.

Enbridge issued a statement praising the MPSC's decision:

This replacement project will restore the ultimate capacity of the Line 6B pipeline to meet increasing demand for additional transportation capacity, which is largely driven by current and planned refinery upgrades and expansions in Michigan, Ohio and eastern Canada. In addition, the replacement project will reduce the amount of future maintenance activities that would otherwise be required to maintain the integrity of the pipeline. Construction is expected to begin in the spring.

More from the Detroit Free Press:

The Michigan Public Service Commission has given Enbridge Energy the final OK to build the company’s massive oil pipeline across Michigan.

The commission’s order, which was issued today, is the last of three approvals the company had sought, and includes sections in Oakland, Macomb, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Ingham and St. Clair counties. The order allows the company to complete 110 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and 50 miles of 30-inch diameter pipeline.