MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich., April 24 (UPI) -- Part of a pipeline in Michigan will be filled with inert gas to make way for the construction of a new section of the line that leaked in 2010, Enbridge said.
County officials in southeastern Michigan asked pipeline company Enbridge for a report on repairs to pipeline Line 6B that ruptured in 2010.
Enbridge said construction on a new section of pipeline is expected to start in August. The company will fill the old section with inert place and leave it in place as per federal safety regulations, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Residents at a community meeting expressed frustration that Enbridge would leave the pipeline in the ground.
Line 6B was carrying Canadian crude oil, a type that sinks in water and is more difficult to clean than conventional crude oil.
The Environmental Protection Agency in March called on Enbridge to do additional dredging in Kalamazoo waters to remove contaminated sediment. Enbridge said the EPA has "repeatedly documented" the presence of residual oil, which can be removed by dredging river bottoms.
The spill in 2010 was the costliest onshore incident of its kind.
