Enbridge oil spill cost up again

MARSHALL, Mich. (WOOD) - Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. has once again revised its cleanup cost for the oil spill that hit West Michigan last summer.

A ruptured pipe sent 20,082 barrels -- or 843,444 gallons -- of crude oil into Talmadge Creek near Marshall in Calhoun County, and eventually into the Kalamazoo River in Kalamazoo County in July 2010.

The original cost of environmental remediation and cleanup activities, and potential claims by third parties, was $430 million. Then officials later revised it to $585 million.

Now they say in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the cost is expected to be 20% higher.

This, on top of $48 million needed to clean up a spill in Romeoville, Ill. in September 2010, is expected to exceed Enbridge's $650 million liability coverage for the year.

Enbridge will have to pay the difference if the final number is more than the liability coverage.