By TIM MARTIN, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 6 mins ago

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – Crews were working Tuesday to contain and clean up more than 800,000 gallons of oil that poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating birds and fish.

Authorities in Battle Creek and Emmett Township warned residents about the strong odor from the oil, which leaked Monday from a 30-inch pipeline built in 1969 that carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
Crews waded in oily water as they worked to stop the oil's advance downstream. Oil-covered Canada geese walked along the banks of the Kalamazoo River, and photos showed dead fish floating in the spill. The Kalamazoo River eventually flows into Lake Michigan, but officials didn't expect the oil to reach the lake.

"This is just a disaster," said Raymond Woodman, 33, of Emmett Township, who watched workers use a vacuum truck to suck oil from the water at the Ceresco Dam, downstream from leak. "It shouldn't matter how much it costs to clean this up. They need to clean it up."

Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc.'s affiliate Enbridge Energy Partners LP of Houston estimated about 819,000 gallons of oil spilled into Talmadge Creek before the company stopped the flow. Enbridge crews and contractors deployed oil skimmers and absorbent booms to minimize its environmental impact.
"We are going to do what it takes to make this right," Enbridge's president and CEO Patrick D. Daniel said during a news conference in Battle Creek.
The company had begun testing the air near the spill, with the primary concern being the possible presence of the cancer-causing chemical benzene. On Tuesday, the company said it hadn't found any levels that would be of concern in residential areas. Groundwater testing also was planned. Authorities evacuated two homes near the leak, and some locals said they were concerned about the fumes. But there were no reports of sickened residents.

As of Tuesday afternoon, oil was reported in about 16 miles of the Kalamazoo River downstream of the spill, said Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. She said state officials were told during a company briefing that an estimated 877,000 gallons spilled — a figure more than 50,000 gallons higher than the company's public estimate.

U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Mich., said he discussed the spill with President Barack Obama. Schauer called the spill a "public health crisis," and said he plans to hold hearings to examine the response.
"The company was originally slow to respond and it is now clear that this is an emergency," Schauer told reporters on a conference call.
Obama has pledged a swift response to requests for assistance, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said.

The cause of spill was under investigation. The site is in Calhoun County's Marshall Township, about 60 miles southeast of Grand Rapids. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm activated the State Emergency Operations Center.
"Our focus is protecting Michigan citizens and our environment by providing any needed state resources to expediently address the situation," Granholm said in a written statement.
Enbridge said it had about 200 employees and contractors working on the spill. Local, state and federal agencies also were involved, and the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation. The pipeline was shut down Monday and isolation valves were closed, stopping the source of the oil, the company said.

The Kalamazoo River eventually bisects the city of Kalamazoo and meanders to Saugatuck, where it empties into Lake Michigan. Officials didn't think the oil would spread past Morrow Lake, which has a dam upstream of Kalamazoo, Dettloff said.
The river already faced major pollution issues. An 80-mile segment of the river and five miles of a tributary, Portage Creek, were placed on the federal Superfund list of high-priority hazardous waste sites in 1990. The Kalamazoo site also includes four landfills and several defunct paper mills.

The Michigan Department of Community Health warned the public to stay away from the creek and river during the cleanup. It also said people shouldn't eat fish from the waterways or have contact with the water, and farmers and homeowners who use the water for irrigation or livestock should stop.

Well since the gulf oil spill didn't convince the public...

quote Obama has pledged a swift response to requests for assistance

Is that before or after his next game of golf?

quote Originally posted by avengador1: Is that before or after his next game of golf?

Hey now, he did get the one in the gulf fixed . j/k

damn
I've Canoed the Kalamazoo

yes, it is a large wide river, feeding out to lake michigan
which I would guess is the main fresh water source for the chicago area

I would say:
"Upside being, maybe it will kill those carp they are worried about entering Lake Michigan"

but my experience is that carp have the tenacity of a cockroach.

I too, have canoed the Kalamazoo. (Say that five times fast. ) Sad to see the spill.

Oil spill now stretches 35 miles; Gov knocks firm's response

Jim Lynch / The Detroit News

Battle Creek -- The length of the oil spill along the Kalamazoo River has more than doubled from previous estimates, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said late Wednesday.
Oil sheen has been detected on the surface of the river roughly 35 miles downstream from the site south of Marshall where the underground oil pipe is thought to have ruptured.
In a conference call late Wednesday, Granholm said the sheen has been seen from the air near the dam at Lake Morrow -- an area Enbridge Energy Co. Inc. had hoped to protect. The governor harshly criticized the company.

"The situation is very serious," she said. "The company and the EPA promised us they would provide additional resources. They know the resources they have provided so far have been wholly inadequate."
Wednesday night, the EPA said it believes more than 1 million gallons of oil may have leaked into the river -- 181,000 more than the company has estimated.
Enbridge has a history of problems with the pipeline and has been cited by the federal government for numerous compliance and safety violations in the past eight years.

Should the contamination flow much farther down the Kalamazoo River, it could pose a new set of problems. Dozens of miles of the river running east from Lake Michigan are considered a Superfund site containing long-standing contamination from PCBs.
A Superfund designation means the area is part of the federal government's program to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste. If oil reaches that section of the river, it is unclear what the environmental impact might be.
Linda Schweitzer, an assistant professor of environmental chemistry at Oakland University, said the oil could affect the buoyancy of the PCBs. Typically, PCBs will sink to the bottom of a river or stream. But the oil could allow them to float up and be dispersed again, Schweitzer said.
Moments after Granholm concluded her press briefing, Enbridge officials canceled a press conference.

Firm had many citations

Since 2002, Enbridge and its pipeline subsidiaries have been issued 29 compliance and safety citations by the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Teri Larson, Enbridge's manager of public affairs, declined to discuss the specific number of citations. "We have a strong culture of safety. We put a strict emphasis on the safety of our pipelines and the communities they run through," she said. "There will be things that happen. We have between 15,000 and 16,000 miles of pipeline. I think every pipeline operator has some sort of issue."
In 2002, the company logged another leak on the same pipeline, when a 34-inch-wide pipeline ruptured near Cohasset, Minn., sending 252,000 gallons of crude oil into a marsh.
The spill prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to issue recommendations for new federal regulations on pipe transport. Federal agencies are still drafting revisions.

Detroit News Staff Writers Catherine Jun, Tom Greenwood and AP contributed.


From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/arti...ocks-firm-s-response