Canada wants data from Michigan oil spill

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A Canadian panel examining the prospects for the Northern Gateway oil pipeline said it wants U.S. evidence related to a 2010 oil spill in Michigan.

Canadian pipeline company Enbridge aims to build the $6 billion Northern Gateway pipeline from oil sands projects in Alberta to ports in British Columbia and delivery to Asian markets.

A national panel examining the pipeline's prospects said it wanted to see evidence from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board regarding a 2010 release from the Enbridge-operated Lakehead oil pipeline network in Michigan, the Calgary Herald reports.

"The panel requires further information regarding this spill and the subsequent actions that have been taken and will be taken to address the issues which have come to light during the investigation by the NTSB," a panel statement reads.

Canada's National Energy Board, in a letter to Enbridge, said it set a Dec. 31, 2013, deadline for the company to deliver a report on the pipeline to the national government.

Aboriginal communities along the western Canadian coast and some provincial leaders have expressed concern about Northern Gateway. The 2010 oil spill in Michigan was the costliest onshore U.S. incident of its kind on the country's history. The NTSB found that Enbridge knew of defects on the line years before the incident occurred.