Case Summary: EPA Orders Enbridge Inc. to Perform Additional Dredging to Remove Oil from Kalamazoo River, Mich.

On March 14, 2013, EPA issued an administrative order that requires Enbridge Inc. to do additional dredging in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River to clean up oil from the company’s July 2010 pipeline spill. EPA’s order requires dredging in sections of the river above Ceresco Dam, upstream of Battle Creek, and in the Morrow Lake Delta. The order was issued under the authority of section 311(c) of the Clean Water Act.

The dredging activity required by EPA’s order will prevent submerged oil from migrating to downstream areas where it will be more difficult or impossible to recover. The order requires cleanup work to be completed by December 31, 2013.

Information about the Site

On July 26, 2010, Enbridge reported that a 30-inch oil pipeline ruptured near Marshall, Michigan. Heavy rains caused the river to overtop existing dams and carried oil 30 miles downstream before the spill was contained.  EPA issued Enbridge an order on July 27, 2010 to conduct the cleanup. 

Since March 2013, Enbridge has successfully removed oil and sediment from two of the three major impoundment areas identified in the order and from several smaller sediment trap locations. As of May 2013, Enbridge estimates the company has recovered 1.15 million gallons of oil from the Kalamazoo River.

Enbridge estimates that as of July 2013, oil response workers have collected over a million gallons of oil and approximately 200,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment and debris from the portion of the Kalamazoo River system impacted by the spill. More information is available about EPA’s response to the Enbridge Oil Spill.

Contact

For more information contact

Meredith Fishburn
Attorney-Advisor
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460
(202) 564-4790
Fishburn.Meredith@epa.gov