New directive for Enbridge, oil spill

MARSHALL, Mich. (WOOD) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new directive for Enbridge regarding its task of cleaning up last summer's oil spill in West Michigan.

The EPA has issued several directives since the spill in July 2010 that 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.

The last directive set an August 31 cleanup deadline, which was not met. At the time, an EPA spokesman told 24 Hour News 8 they were working with Enbridge to get the job done.

The new directive covers the work that remains, and for Enbridge to submit plans by Oct. 20 for cleanup and monitoring work that is expected to last through 2012.

Enbridge continues to clean up submerged oil in the Murrow Lake Delta and rechecking sites already cleaned to make sure they got it all.

They are also assessing the Talmadge Creek area with the state to find out what needs to get done.

Right now, more than 700 people -- including state and federal officials, Enbridge staff and contractors -- remain on the scene.

In a report issued Wednesday by the EPA, a total of 222 sites of submerged oil were identified -- 166 sites have been completed, or 74.8% of sites cleaned. Plus, 126 sites of submerged oil were identified in the summer assessment; of those, one has been cleaned, or 0.8%.

The EPA said that the directive "is a next step, not an indictment of the work Enbridge has done so far."

According to the EPA, Enbridge must:

• Cleanup the overbank (land) contamination sites (small sites along the river, currently evaluating list of areas that will be included in the list)
• Continue implementing a cycle recovery followed by assessment, followed by recovery for submerged oil (Clean it, check it, clean again if needed).
• Begin to engineer and construct longer term sediment collection devices at key areas in the river (allowing the collection of small amounts of oil that may have been missed, but is being moved because of the flow of the river).
• Continue to conduct scientific studies on submerged oil to learn better ways to clean up similar spills in the future.

Enbridge officials are still looking into the new directive and do not have a comment yet.

Failure to comply could result in civil penalties.

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Online:

EPA's response to the oil spill

U.S. EPA pollution/situation report (pdf)