Enbridge's Michigan oil spill
July 30th, 2010
Crews are scrambling to clean up the 3.3 million litre oil spill in Michigan that has flowed into the Kalamazoo River caused by an Enbridge pipeline leak.
Enbridge is the same energy corporation that is proposing the Northern Gateway pipeline project that would plow through British Columbia and bring over 200 tankers to the pristine coast of British Columbia. The Michigan oil spill only validates the concerns of Coastal First Nations along the coast and the 80% of British Columbians that oppose the Northern Gateway project: First Nations slam Enbridge for the Michigan oil spill (Canadian Press).
"The company has promised again and again that it will have the best technology for Northern Gateway (see an ad example in the Vancouver Sun here) and that it would be able to tell within five minutes if there was a leak and shut it off," says ForestEthics Senior Energy Campaigner Nikki Skuce (Vancouver Sun). "With this latest spill, Enbridge is effectively making its own argument against the Northern Gateway Pipeline" (Calgary Herald and Canoe.ca).
As Canadian geese get covered in black grease and dead fish float to the oil-slicked surface (photos here), Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel claims that "he would take the learnings [sic] (from the Michigan oil spill accident) and apply them to the operation of the (Northern Gateway) pipeline" (Edmonton Journal).
