Enbridge handled Michigan spill like "Keystone Cops," says U.S. regulator
OTTAWA — U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Debbie Hersman said Tuesday Enbridge Inc. managers handled the massive 2010 crude oil spill in Michigan like the "Keystone Cops."
She made the comment while revealing the NTSB's scathing findings on the 2010 spill involving a pipeline owned by Calgary-based Enbridge, the proponent of the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.
"When we were examining Enbridge's poor handling to their response to this rupture you can't help but think about the Keystone Cops," Hersman said, referring to the fictional incompetent policemen in silent film comedies of the early 20th century.
"Why didn't they recognize what was happening and what took so long?"
Enbridge Chief Executive Officer Pat Daniel was in the audience as Hersman delivered her comments.
Hersman noted the company took 17 hours after the initial alarm before taking action, and she added the company failed to take action despite knowing for years the pipeline suffered from corrosion dating back to 2004.
She said the company "took advantage" of weak regulation in the years leading up to the rupture.
The NTSB will also propose safety recommendations stemming from the spill near the municipality of Marshall, which has so far caused more than $800 million U.S. in damage and prompted earlier this month a proposed $3.7 million fine from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Enbridge has said the rupture resulted in the release of 843,444 gallons of diluted bitumen crude, though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says on its website that 1,148,230 gallons of oil has already been collected in and near Michigan's Kalamazoo River.
The incident has fired up international opposition to two major Canadian oilsands pipeline projects — Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal to Kitimat, and TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL project to the U.S. Gulf Coast that has been delayed by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Significant attention has focused on the "human error" aspect of the 2010 spill, since the company didn't start taking action until 17 hours after the first alarm warned of problems in Michigan.
The crude was released in a wetland area near Marshall, Michigan, a "high consequence area within a mostly rural, wet and low-lying region," according to the NTSB.
"The released oil pooled into a marshy area over the rupture site before flowing 700 feet south into Talmadge Creek, which ultimately carried it into the Kalamazoo River."
The U.S. Department of Transportation, in its justification for the $3.7 million fine that Enbridge has the right to challenge, also noted in its findings that Enbridge did not deal with "corrosion anomalies" on the Michigan line dating back to 2004.
OTTAWA — U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Debbie Hersman said Tuesday Enbridge Inc. managers handled the massive 2010 crude oil spill in Michigan like the "Keystone Cops."
She made the comment while revealing the NTSB's scathing findings on the 2010 spill involving a pipeline owned by Calgary-based Enbridge, the proponent of the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast.
"When we were examining Enbridge's poor handling to their response to this rupture you can't help but think about the Keystone Cops," Hersman said, referring to the fictional incompetent policemen in silent film comedies of the early 20th century.
"Why didn't they recognize what was happening and what took so long?"
Enbridge Chief Executive Officer Pat Daniel was in the audience as Hersman delivered her comments.
Hersman noted the company took 17 hours after the initial alarm before taking action, and she added the company failed to take action despite knowing for years the pipeline suffered from corrosion dating back to 2004.
She said the company "took advantage" of weak regulation in the years leading up to the rupture.
The NTSB will also propose safety recommendations stemming from the spill near the municipality of Marshall, which has so far caused more than $800 million U.S. in damage and prompted earlier this month a proposed $3.7 million fine from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Enbridge has said the rupture resulted in the release of 843,444 gallons of diluted bitumen crude, though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says on its website that 1,148,230 gallons of oil has already been collected in and near Michigan's Kalamazoo River.
The incident has fired up international opposition to two major Canadian oilsands pipeline projects — Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal to Kitimat, and TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL project to the U.S. Gulf Coast that has been delayed by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Significant attention has focused on the "human error" aspect of the 2010 spill, since the company didn't start taking action until 17 hours after the first alarm warned of problems in Michigan.
The crude was released in a wetland area near Marshall, Michigan, a "high consequence area within a mostly rural, wet and low-lying region," according to the NTSB.
"The released oil pooled into a marshy area over the rupture site before flowing 700 feet south into Talmadge Creek, which ultimately carried it into the Kalamazoo River."
The U.S. Department of Transportation, in its justification for the $3.7 million fine that Enbridge has the right to challenge, also noted in its findings that Enbridge did not deal with "corrosion anomalies" on the Michigan line dating back to 2004.
