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EPA issues cleanup directive to Enbridge

Release Date: 10/06/2011
Contact Information: Josh Singer, 312-353-5069, singer.joshua@epa.gov, Don de Blasio, 312-343-6666, deblasio.don@epa.gov

For Immediate Release
No. 11-OPA099

(CHICAGO - October 6, 2011) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a directive today requiring Enbridge to take additional steps to clean up the July 2010 oil spill that damaged over 35 miles of the Kalamazoo River system. The directive requires Enbridge to submit plans by Oct. 20, 2011 for cleanup and monitoring work expected to last through 2012. Failure to comply could result in civil penalties.

The EPA directive lays out a performance-based framework for assessing and recovering submerged oil in the river and cleaning up oil-contaminated river banks. The Enbridge pipeline spill impacted the Kalamazoo River system from Talmadge Creek to Morrow Lake. EPA transferred primary oversight of ongoing cleanup activities along Talmadge Creek to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Aug. 5, 2011.

For more information: https://www.epa.gov/enbridgespill/