<&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency For more information EPA Marshall Office 13444 Preston Drive Community Involvement Don de Blasio EPA Community Involvement Coordinator deblasio. don@epa.gov 269-727-2511 and 312-343-6666 Open houses One-on-one availability sessions about the spill response will be held at EPA's Marshall field office from 5 to 7 p.m. on these dates: • August - 20 and 21 • September - 4 and 5 On the Web www.epa.gov/enbridgespill/ Una version de la hoja de information esta disponible en espanol en www.epa.gov/ enbridgespill. Si desea recibir una copia por correo, comuniquese con Don de Blasio. Repositories Site documents and Internet access is available at these area libraries: Marshall District Library 124 W. Green St. Marshall Helen Warner Library 36 Minges Creek Place Battle Creek Willard Public Library 7 Van Buren St. W. Battle Creek Dredging Begins On Kalamazoo River Enbridge Oil Spill Marshall, Michigan August 2013 A second section of the Kalamazoo River, from Savior's Landing to Ceresco Dam, was closed Tuesday, July 30, to prepare for dredging. This section covers about 3 miles of the river. The first section was closed Saturday, July 27. The river is being closed for the safety of the public and workers while dredging takes place. Enbridge will dredge about 350,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment during this phase of the cleanup. During the past three years, nearly 190,000 cubic yards of oil-contaminated material and 1.15 million gallons of oil have been recovered from the river. EPA ordered Enbridge Pipeline LLC to dredge several areas of the river to remove remaining submerged oil. Dredging must be completed by Dec. 31. The cleanup work is required by EPA's March 2013 administrative order, which requires Enbridge to complete additional dredging by the end of the year. EPA will provide updates as other sections close. Community impact In March, EPA ordered Enbridge to remove Line 6B oil and oil-containing sediment along parts of the Kalamazoo River where significant accumulations have been recently found. The order requires dredging of submerged oil and oil-contaminated sediment within the following areas: • Upstream of the Ceresco Dam • Mill Ponds area • Morrow Lake, Morrow Lake Delta and adjacent areas • Sediment traps at two designated locations The dredging of the specified areas must be completed by Dec. 31 this year. Dredging was the chosen technique because it has proven effective at removing submerged oil and oil-containing sediment. EPA and MDEQ experts agree that controlled dredging is the best and most proven way to eliminate the remaining recoverable oil and to remove oil that has collected in sediment traps. Oil spill amounts Enbridge initially reported the pipeline break released 819,000 gallons of crude. The company later revised that amount to 843,000 gallons. At EPA's direction, Enbridge has provided regular, updated estimates of how much oil it has recovered since the spill. These estimates are based on methods worked out with EPA technical experts to determine the amount of oil in all waste recovery categories: oil, contaminated water, soil, vegetation, debris, and cleanup materials. As of this May, Enbridge estimates the company has recovered 1.15 million gallons of oil from the Kalamazoo River. ------- Remaining oil and future recovery EPA estimates about 180,000 gallons of Line 6B oil (plus or minus 100,000 gallons) remain in the river bottom sediment. EPA has ordered Enbridge to remove the recoverable oil (about 12,000-18,000 gallons) by dredging. The 162,000-168,000 gallons of oil that will remain in the river after this dredging work is complete will not be able to be recovered right away without causing significant adverse impacts to the river. Instead, it must be carefully monitored and collected over time using traps that gather contaminated sediment. Future oil recovery will depend on whether the crude eventually moves to the areas with these sediment traps. The map below shows sections of the Kalamazoo River that have been closed while dredging takes place. The text boxes on the map indicate the recommended entry and exit points on the river. ------- |