Enbridge reports only sheen remains on Kalamazoo River

Aug. 2, 2010
Enbridge Inc. officials said only sheen remained on the Kalamazoo River following a pipeline leak near Marshall, Mich., where oil spilled from the 6B pipeline on Enbridge’s Lakehead system into a creek and entered the river.

Paula Dittrick
OGJ Senior Staff Writer

HOUSTON, Aug. 2 -- Enbridge Inc. officials said only sheen remained on the Kalamazoo River following a pipeline leak near Marshall, Mich., where oil spilled from the 6B pipeline on Enbridge’s Lakehead system into a creek and entered the river.

Enbridge planned to cut out a section of pipe early Aug. 3, providing the US Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation of that section by then.

The leak was reported July 26 on Line 6B, which is a 30-in., 190,000 b/d line transporting light synthetics, heavy, and medium crude from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ont. The pipeline was shut down and isolation valves closed (OGJ Online, July 29, 2010).

Patrick Daniel, Enbridge president and chief executive officer, said he toured the river Aug. 2 and saw only sheen. Some 730 people worked on the river cleanup.

“Our goal is to return this river to the state it was in before this incident,” Daniel said. “We are going to continue to be a part of this community where we’ve been since 1969.” He also emphasized that Enbridge will pay “all legitimate damages from the spill.”

Steve Wuori, Enbridge Pipelines Inc. executive vice-president, said the company estimates it recovered 10,000 bbl of oil total. He said the vast majority of oil never reached the creek and the river.

“It was contained in that swamp area right adjacent to the pipe, and we’re pulling volumes out of there quite rapidly now so the recovered barrels of oil are climbing,” Wuori said.

The containment phase largely is finished, and Enbridge is focusing on beginning cleanup work, Wuori said. Some 69,000 ft of boom was deployed using resources provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency and Enbridge. Other equipment used in the response included 79 vacuum trucks, 19 tanker trucks, skimmers, and nearly 50 other boats.

Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].