As part of a new cleanup plan for oil that continues to plague the Kalamazoo River in Michigan after a pipeline burst in July 2010, Enbridge Energy announced recently that efforts will continue through 2012.
The Detroit Free Press reports that the Environmental Protection Agency had initially required Enbridge – which owned the pipeline – to clean up all of the oil by the end of August. With the company having failed to do so, the EPA now says the process will continue into next year.
According to the news source, oil can still be found in sediment pockets underneath the surface and in sheen on top of the water, despite the fact that cleanup efforts have already cost at least $700 million.
Some local property owners, including Dean and Angela Beckman of Fenton, have complained about Enbridge’s work to replace segments of the pipeline, according to the Free Press.
“We were not happy with how we were dealt with and how the property was left this year when they completed a repair dig on our property,” the Beckmans wrote in a letter to the Public Service Commission.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that the U.S. Senate recently passed pipeline safety legislation to increase regulations on underground pipelines, with the Kalamazoo River oil spill a major topic of discussion during the debate over the measure.
In addition to such regulations, IImpact Absorbents’ XSORB Oil Select Sock, which is one of the premier cleanup products on the market, can aid these efforts.
