EPA to oversee efforts to cleanup oil spill near Mich. river

July 29 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be overseeing recovery efforts at an oil spill near the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.

On Monday, a 30-inch pipeline operated by Enbridge Inc. burst in Marshall, Mich., sending at least a million gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. EPA estimates up to 25 miles of the river have been impacted. Other areas affected by the oil spill include marshlands, residential areas, farmland and businesses. The leak has been stopped.

"EPA and other federal and state agencies mobilized immediately in response to this spill and have taken a series of steps to minimize the damage this spill does to the river and surrounding communities," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This is a serious spill that has the potential to damage a vital waterway and threatens public health. Staff from EPA´s regional and headquarters office are on the scene and ensuring the leaked oil is contained and cleaned up as quickly and effectively as possible."

EPA has responsibility under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for this spill because it happened inland, rather than offshore.

Since the spill Monday, Enbridge and the EPA have been monitoring air quality, and making plans to clean up the oil. EPA, as the on-scene coordinator, is launching organizational and oversight plans of the local and federal responders to the disaster.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/enbridgespill.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch@crain.com