Enbridge halts Michigan cleanup work

MARSHALL, Mich., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Enbridge Energy said it made a seasonal decision to halt efforts for the year to get submerged tar sands oil out of a river in southern Michigan.

Line 6B of the Enbridge-operated Lakehead oil pipeline ruptured in July 2010 near Marshall, Mich. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated more than 23,000 barrels of heavy oil from Alberta tar sands spilled from the pipeline into the Kalamazoo River and nearby Talmadge Creek.

The EPA recovered about 18,000 barrels of oil from the surface. Officials said it was unclear how the remaining oil would affect the environment because there is no spill with which to compare the Enbridge leak.

For more than a year, crews have worked to get oil removed from the bottom of the waterways. Heavy crude, unlike conventional crude, sinks and mixes in with the sediment.

Enbridge spokesman Jason Manshum told regional broadcaster WOOD TV 8 that "submerged oil recovery was done for the year."

The broadcaster reported Enbridge made its decision based on colder weather. Crews would still work to remediate riverbanks, however.

Manshum added that crews have recovered "the majority of the submerged oil."