Cleanup of Kalamazoo River from 2010 oil spill - Update Sept. 1 - deadline unmet

from M Live dot-com (Kalamazoo Gazette coverage - 9/1/2011)

"Deadlines have been used in this project to motivate action and motivate progress," said Ralph Dollhopf, the Environmental Protection Agency’s incident commander for the spill.

"The fact the Enbridge missed the deadline does not mean there is not good progress on this project."

The EPA set the deadline for the end of August 2011 for Enbridge to clean up 200 acres of submerged oil in three areas: the Ceresco Dam; in Mill Pond, just east of Battle Creek; and where the Kalamazoo River enters Morrow Lake in Comstock Township.
So far, 766,000 gallons of oil recovered and 15.3 million gallons of oil/water collected and disposed, according to the EPA. Enbridge estimates that more than 800,00 gallons of oil spilled.

Now, crews are focusing on Morrow Lake and the delta leading into the lake.

The submerged oil is the result of the diluted bitumen oil mixture that was flowing through the pipeline at the time of the rupture last July. The heavier part of the diluted bitumen sank to the bottom of the riverbed over time and mixed in with the sediment, while the lighter chemicals evaporated.

In a letter Enbridge sent to the EPA on Monday August 29, the Alberta-based pipeline company cited several reasons why crews were unable to meet the deadline, including the dynamics of the river, crews waiting for approval of work plans as well as additional time spent getting customized equipment prepared for the response.

Another factor is "the expanded scope of the spill," according to the letter. Enbridge says they are finding more oil than what the assessment in May 2011 and June 2011 discovered.

"Once summer cleanup began after the completion of the reassessment, we learned that some submerged oil locations had shifted since the reassessment and other areas expanded," the letter reads. "The area actually worked to date has increased by 79 percent over what was identified at the end of the spring reassessment."

The EPA is investigating this claim. Dollhopf said they are aware of Enbridge's claim, but "it does not mean more oil has been generated."

On Aug. 3 2011, the EPA denied Enbridge’s request to increase the hours crews were working. A letter from the EPA cited that a 14-hour, seven-day-a-week work schedule may have resulted in "increased stress and on project staff and workers that is not warranted."

Dollhoph said that could have been an early indicator that Enbridge would not meet the deadline. He said he thinks the deadline was reasonable.