Enbridge, Inc., a Canada-based company spilled a lot of oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River back in 2010. They did this by accident of course. Unfortunately, they seem to have a history of doing this kind of thing by accident. The Kalamazoo spill consisted of 800,000 gallons of tar sands oil being dumped into the river. There is ample evidence that Enbridge knew that the pipeline in question was cracking all the way back in 2005.
Enbridge Inc. knew in 2005 that its pipeline near Marshall, 95 miles west of Detroit, was cracked and corroded but it didn't perform excavations that might have prevented the rupture, investigators told the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington before it approved the findings and 19 safety recommendations.
Enbridge didn't realize the pipeline was gushing oil into the Kalamazoo River and an enjoining creek for 17 hours, when a gas company worker pointed it out. During that time, Enbridge control center personnel twice pumped more oil into the ruptured line, investigators found.
[My emphasis]
Last year, Enbridge reached one of many settlements. Last year’s settlement was with the First Nations Tribes in Michigan. This week, Enbridge has released new accounting that says they expect to incur higher than previously reported fines. The estimate is now around $55 million.
The Canada-based company revealed the revised estimate earlier this week in a quarterly disclosure filing with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It cautions investors that the ultimate fine eventually imposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency could cost the company even more.
The new figure offers a glimpse of the highly secretive and lengthy negotiations between Enbridge and the EPA and lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2013, Enbridge estimated the fine would be $22 million. That figure jumped to $40 million last year. Those shifting numbers signal a resolution may be near, industry analysts say.
The EPA purportedly opened with an $85 million fine settlement last year and Enbridge opened with $40 million. The only good news in all of this is that so far, Enbridge has lost over a billion dollars because of this. It’s not a lot when it comes to oil money but it hits harder than the fines the EPA hands out.