VILLAGE OF CAMBRIDGE, Wis. — An Enbridge pipeline spilled almost 70,000 gallons of crude oil just over a month ago near Lake Ripley in Jefferson County due to a bad connection between pipes.
Stains on the gravel by the Line 6 pipeline building tipped off a technician to the spill, who was conducting a routine inspection on the morning of November 11. The station was shut down to stop the spill from getting any worse, according to an incident report by the US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Enbridge started investigating and found the problem was a bad connection on a pump transfer pipe. It was likely leaking for an "extended period of time," according to the report.
The report estimated about 1,650 barrels of crude oil was released from the pipe, which is about 69,300 gallons. This amount of oil spilled could cost over $1 million in property damage, including about $890,450 in environmental remediation.
TMJ4 reached out to Enbridge to see if the oil had reached or contaminated the water table, potentially affecting drinking water, and to ask about the status of the spill.
In the response from Enbridge, the company believes roughly 60% of the spill has been cleaned up by excavating the area. It was not communicated if the spill affected Village of Cambridge or Jefferson County water. The company did state their response was immediate.
"Enbridge immediately reported the release to state and federal regulators when it was discovered by an Enbridge employee during a visual inspection of the station," Enbridge said. "We are working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as cleanup and restoration proceed."
Enbridge's Line 6, brought into service in the late 60's, is part of an approximate 1,552 miles of company pipeline in Wisconsin.
A portion of the company's pipeline called Line 5 was approved to be re-routed by the Department of Natural Resources.
Environmental organizations and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa filed a lawsuit in Ashland County asking to stay the DNR's environmental impact statement and stop construction permits. The groups argue Enbridge underestimated the negative impacts of relocating the pipeline and the tribe's wild rice beds and the watershed are at risk.
The spill happened on Monday, November 11 and Enbridge was permitted to work on the project starting Thursday, November 14 — the same week.
Tony Wilkin Gibart, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates also opposes Line 5 construction and in a statement said the Line 6 spill is an example of why the organization believes the DNR is incorrect in concluding there is only a small risk Line 5 will spill.
"According to documents from the US Department of Transportation, the faulty segment on Line 6 in Jefferson County has a leak detection system, but that system failed to even detect the leak — much less prevent tens of thousands of gallons of oil from contaminating surrounding land and water in Jefferson County," Wilkin said. "DNR's reasoning for approving Line 5 defies common sense."
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