Upton views Enbridge pipeline project

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. (WOOD) - On a nondescript stretch of blacktop in Cass County, Enbridge officials and contractors showed US Rep. Fred Upton routine maintenance work on the decades-old pipeline that ruptured two years ago, spilling 800,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River.

Upton, the Commerce Committee chairman who wrote new legislation with Rep. John Dingell designed to prevent that type of catastrophe, talked about the new rules and the new pipeline Enbridge is putting in.

Enbridge is preparing to replace that pipeline, a $1.3 billion project that is expected to double the capacity to a half-million barrels each day.

The pipeline should be complete "by the end of next summer," Upton told 24 Hour News 8.

Part of the return on their investment, Upton said, is a potentially more stable fuel supply for the upper Midwest.

Michigan also stands to collect millions of dollars in taxes as a result of the new pipeline project - and jobs for local construction workers, welders, machine operators and others will be filled to work on the infrastructure replacement.