Monday, July 26, 2010

840,000 gallons of oil leak into Michigan creek

SARAH LAMBERT • THE ENQUIRER • JULY 26, 2010

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP — A leaking pipeline spilled about 840,000 gallons of oil into a creek leading to the Kalamazoo River today according to estimates from Enbridge Energy Partners, the company taking responsibility for the spill.

The leak resulted from a pipeline malfunction that was still under investigation tonight, said Tom Fridel, general manager for Enbridge Liquids Pipelines in Chicago. The 30-inch pipeline carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Indiana, to Sarnia, Ontario, according to Enbridge.

The leak originated at the Enbridge site, at 16000 Division Drive near the border of Marshall and Fredonia townships. The oil spilled into Talmadge Creek, which flows northwest into the Kalamazoo River.

After the oil leak was detected, the pipeline pumps were shut down and the valves upstream and downstream from the leak were closed, according to a press release from Houston-based Enbridge and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Management.

Authorities are monitoring up to the Ceresco Dam and beyond, said Durk Dunham, the county's emergency management director. The timing of the spill is bad because recent storms have widened the river and caused it to carry the oil more quickly, said Calhoun County Sheriff Al Byam.

The oil already has started to make its way west past the booms set up by workers in Marshall Township. The Emmett Township Department of Public Safety issued a warning this evening telling people not to fish or swim in the river. The department said oil was leaking past barriers and toward Historic Bridge Park and said people should avoid the water.

Two homes near the leak were evacuated because of safety concerns, but no more evacuations were anticipated, according to the press release. By late afternoon today, a thick layer of oil was visible at the juncture of the creek and the Kalamazoo River, near A Drive North and 15 1/2-Mile Road in Marshall Township.

Many small fish washed up on the banks of the river today. River access points were staffed by the sheriff’s department or Enbridge employees, and A Drive North near the spill was blocked off and policed by the Fredonia Township Fire Department on Monday afternoon.

Battle Creek resident Jim Blankenship said he smelled oil and called 911 around 9 p.m. Sunday as he was leaving the Marshall Moonraker on 17-Mile Road. A call came into the dispatch center at 9:25 p.m., said Jeff Troyer, executive director of the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority.

The center dispatched the Marshall Fire Department, which then called Marshall Township around 11 p.m. because the spill occurred in the township, Troyer said.

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