ICYMI: Enbridge Fined for Failing to Meet Pipeline Inspection Deadlines After Disastrous 2010 Tar Sands Spill

This week, the U.S. government fined Enbridge $1.8 million over the Canadian pipeline company’s failure to meet inspection deadlines for a number of its oil pipelines running through the Midwest. The inspections were required as part of a settlement following Enbridge’s disastrous 2010 tar sands pipeline spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which spilled more than 1 million gallons of oil and cost more than $1 billion to clean up.

According to regulators, Enbridge failed to conduct timely inspections on six pipelines, including the controversial Line 3 pipeline and others running through Minnesota, as well as the Line 5 pipeline, which runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

A recent study, conducted by a Michigan State University researcher and released by the Michigan-based group For Love of Water (FLOW), estimates that an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lakes Michigan and Huron, could have an economic impact of more than $6 billion on the state.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Associate Director Cathy Collentine released the following statement:

“Over and over, Enbridge has made it clear that they cannot be trusted to run dirty oil and tar sands pipelines through the Midwest. A leak or spill in the Great Lakes region would be devastating, and it’s time we stopped letting Enbridge gamble with our water, our economy, and the health and safety of our communities. We need immediate action to shut down Line 5 and stop Enbridge’s dangerous plans to expand their tar sands pipeline network across some of our country’s most critical bodies of water.”