MARSHALL (WKZO) -- Enbridge Energy has come under fire over allegations that they did not respond quickly enough to the oil spill into the Kalamazoo River. Battle Creek Congressman Mark Schauer says they failed to report the spill to the National Response Center for three and a half hours after identifying a problem. Calling the company's actions "negligent," he says the company initially had a truck out to the area Sunday evening at the same time 911 calls about a gas odor in the area was reported.
He accuses the company of downplaying estimates of how much oil was spilled, saying he believes it could actually be anywhere from two to three-million gallons. Schauer is now proposing a bill that would require fuel haulers to respond more quickly when a spill occurs, and immediately report it to federal agencies so they can also respond. He wants to call it the “Clean Act”. It would increase fines and penalties for non compliance.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Office regulates pipelines in the U.S. In January, they sent a letter to Enbridge Energy officials, warning them the steps they were taking to monitor corrosion in the pipelines was out of compliance, and that approved monitoring was no longer in operation. Enbridge CEO Pat Daniel says they switched monitors, they didn’t stop monitoring. It’s just the latest in a series of leaks in Enbridge pipelines and by far the largest.
