Enbridge to compensate for 2010 oil spill in Michigan, US

United States has filed a proposed consent decree against Enbridge to resolve claims of federal, state and tribal resource trustees for natural resource damages (NRD) caused by the firm’s Line 6B pipeline rupture in Michigan in 2010.

The US Department of Justice has asked the company to carry out remediation measures in multiple natural resource restoration projects.

Damages caused by the oil spill have an estimated cost of at least $58m.

Besides the restoration projects to be undertaken along the Kalamazoo River, Enbridge will also have to pay a compensation for around $4m which will be used by the state for additional restoration projects, as reimbursements for natural resource damage assessment costs of federal and tribal trustees and to support the ongoing restoration planning of natural resource trustees.

US Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden said: "By requiring restoration and monitoring, along with funding for the federal, state and tribal trustees, this settlement will go a long way toward correcting the injuries to injured natural resources along the Kalamazoo River."

According to the NRD settlement with the justice department, the firm will be responsible for replacement of undersized culverts, removal of existing obstacles to water flow and try to increase floodplain capacity for two tributaries of the Kalamazoo River.

It will also work for improving habitat for warm water fisheries, control water milfoil and other invasive species in the region, restore 175 acres of oak savanna uplands in Fort Custer State Recreation Area, protect turtle reproduction and restore wild rice beds along the river bed.

An Enbridge pipeline carrying diluted bitumen, heavy crude oil from Canada’s Athabasca oil sands to the US burst in July 2010.