NTSB: Neglect caused spill

Associated Press

DETROIT

The Canadian operator of an oil pipeline that ruptured in southwestern Michigan two years ago, causing the most expensive onshore spill in U.S. history, failed to deal adequately with structural problems detected years ago and to respond appropriately to the catastrophe, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

Enbridge Inc. knew in 2005 that its pipeline near Marshall, a city 95 miles west of Detroit, was cracked and corroded, but it didn’t perform excavations that ultimately might have prevented the rupture, NTSB investigators told the five-member board in Washington before it approved the findings and 19 safety recommendations.

Enbridge didn’t realize the pipeline was gushing oil into the Kalamazoo River and an enjoining creek for more than 17 hours, when a gas company worker pointed it out, and during that time Enbridge control center personnel twice pumped more oil into the ruptured line, investigators found.

“Learning about Enbridge’s poor handling of the rupture, you can’t help but think of the Keystone Kops,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Why didn’t they recognize what was happening?”

The report also faulted the government, citing weak regulation insufficient review of Enbridge’s oil spill response plan by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The NTSB doesn’t have the power to regulate pipeline companies, but its safety recommendations carry significant weight with lawmakers, federal and state regulators, and industry officials.

Results of its investigations sometimes are used in lawsuits.

The spill dumped about 843,000 gallons of heavy crude into the Kalamazoo and a tributary creek, fouling more than 35 miles of waterways and wetlands. About 320 people reported symptoms from crude oil exposure.

Enbridge’s cleanup costs have exceeded $800 million.