Enbridge cuts space available on pipelines

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Canadian pipeline company Enbridge announced it was reducing space available on two oil pipelines in part because of an oil spill in southern Michigan.

Enbridge announced that it would notify shippers that it reduced the space available on two oil pipelines feeding parts of Ontario and Illinois by 490,000 barrels per day and 400,000 bpd, respectively .

Gina Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Canadian company, told the Calgary Herald, the decision for the Ontario and Illinois lines was in part a result of the ruptured Lakehead artery in Michigan.

"The apportionment on those two lines is certainly partially a result of Line 6B being out of service," she said.

Shippers, Jordan explained, would like to send more product through the two pipelines than space permits.

A section of the Lakehead pipeline system near Marshall, Mich., ruptured July 26, dumping around 20,000 barrels of oil into Talmadge Creek and Kalamazoo River.

Enbridge removed a section of the pipeline and is working on soil remediation in the areas affected by the spill.

Michigan lawmakers had complained the pipeline company was ignoring so-called anomalies on the Lakehead system and last week the U.S. Department of Transportation fined the company more than $2.4 million for safety violations on the Lakehead system in Minnesota.

Enbridge filed plans with the U.S. government to restart the system but was denied and now waits for approval of its revised request.