Enbridge Energy Parners (NYSE:EEP) reported an oil leak at its Lakehead pipeline system pump station near Marshall, Michigan.
The pipeline was shut down, and isolation valves were closed, which stopped the source of the oil. Initial reports of the leak estimate that 19,500 barrels of crude oil may have been released.
The oil spill and subsequent pipeline shut-down occurred on July 26.
While no persons were injured during the spill, the oil leaked into a creek that fed a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. Enbridge confirmed that oil has entered the river, and contracted crews were immediately mobilized to the site to deploy oil skimmers and absorbent booms in the creek and river.
"Enbridge is treating this situation as a top priority," said Terrance McGill, Enbridge president. "We are bringing all available resources to bear -- ranging from emergency response and containment personnel to environment and water quality specialists.”
Enbridge notified regulatory and emergency officials and is working to determine the cause of the oil leak.
"Safety is a top priority and the Partnership will do our utmost to minimize the impact on the environment, neighboring landowners and communities,” said McGill. “Enbridge's environmental response team is working closely with local agencies and all emergency officials to complete the clean up as quickly as possible."
A part of the Lakehead system, the pipeline that has been shut-down is the Line 6B, which is a 30-inch-diameter, 190,000 barrel-per-day pipeline that transports light synthetics, heavy and medium crude oil from Griffith, Indiana, to Sarnia, Ontario.
A schedule for re-starting the pipeline has not been determined.
In January of this year, another portion of the Lakehead pipeline system was shut-down for a 3,000-barrel oil leak in North Dakota.
Spanning some 1,900 miles, the Lakehead System is the US portion of the world’s longest petroleum pipeline and the primary transport line for crude oil from Western Canada to the US. The pipeline system serves all the major refining centers in the Great Lakes, Midwest US and Ontario, Canada.
