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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	13-P-0370
Office of Inspector General	September 4,2013
At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of
Inspector General, received an
anonymous hotline complaint
about the EPA's management
of emergency oil spill funding
for the Enbridge pipeline spill.
On July 26, 2010, the
Enbridge pipeline spill released
more than 800,000 gallons of
oil into the Kalamazoo River in
Michigan. The responsible
party, Enbridge Energy
Partners, LLC, is cleaning up
the spill.
As of February 24, 2013, the
EPA's costs to oversee the
cleanup totaled more than
$50 million. These costs are
reimbursed by the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund, which is
administered by the U.S. Coast
Guard.
This report addresses the
following EPA Goals or
Cross-Cutting Strategies:
•	Cleaning up communities
and advancing sustainable
development.
•	Protecting America's waters.
Limited Oil Spill Funding Since the Enbridge Spill
Has Delayed Abandoned Oil Well Cleanups;
Emergency Oil Responses Not Impacted
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Affairs at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2013/
20130904-13-P-0370.pdf
What We Found
We reviewed hotline allegations that: (1) the EPA failed to request additional oil
spill funding in response to its ongoing Enbridge pipeline spill costs and other
uncontrolled oil discharges; (2) the EPA headquarters told regions there would be
a shortage of emergency funding through 2014; (3) limited funding resulted in
cleanup delays at known oil-discharge sites; (4) the EPA's administrative orders
lacked required language specifying which costs can be recovered by the
government; and (5) the EPA had not submitted requests for reimbursement of
its Enbridge spill oversight costs. Our findings partially substantiated allegation 1
and substantiated allegation 3, but did not substantiate allegations 2, 4 and 5.
Also, according to EPA staff, the Enbridge spill has not impacted the EPA's ability
to respond to classic emergency spills, such as tanker truck rollovers and
pipeline breaks. However, EPA Regions 2 and 4 staff said limited funding due to
the spill has caused delays and impacted their ability to respond to abandoned oil
wells in their regions. Regions 2 and 4 have identified abandoned oil well sites
that have leaking wells that impact or threaten surface waters. Cleanup delays at
these sites could result in further contamination, posing a threat to wildlife, fish,
and underground sources of drinking water. Although the EPA's Office of
Emergency Management staff were aware of the risks, the OEM prioritized its
limited funding for classic emergency oil spills. The OEM has not coordinated
with Regions 2 and 4, or other regions, to develop a nationwide plan to address
abandoned oil wells. Agency staff said they requested additional funding for the
Enbridge spill. However, the EPA did not request additional funding for
abandoned oil well removals.
We also found that the EPA lacks technical guidance on oil spills, which results in
emergency responders using their discretion to develop and execute response
actions. While this may be adequate and sufficient for typical emergency oil
spills, the large-scale release of tar sands oil in the Enbridge spill had not been
encountered before by the EPA. Oil spill guidance or a more robust application of
lessons learned from major oil spill cleanups could provide essential information
for other EPA regions to use in future spills of this nature.
Recommendations
We recommend that the OEM establish risk-based priority criteria for use by the
regions in their requests to EPA headquarters for Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
funding and in implementing oil spill responses. We also recommend that the
OEM develop a process for sharing lessons learned from large or unprecedented
oil spills such as Enbridge. OEM agreed with both recommendations. One
recommendation is complete, both are resolved, and no further response to the
final report is needed from the agency.

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