Tuesday night of oil-soaked birds show the true, lasting impact of an oil spill — not in the Gulf, but here in Michigan.
Federal, state and local officials are taking swift action to contain the oil spill in Calhoun County on the west side of the state.
Officials with Enbridge Pipelines say they don’t know what caused oil to start leaking from a major pipeline Monday morning.
In that time it has flowed from a creek in Marshall into the Kalamazoo River and officials are trying to stop the crude from spreading.
It is being called one of the largest oil spills the Midwest has seen in some time. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has declared a state of disaster for Calhoun County.
After touring the river by air, she says there is no doubt it will take some time to clean up the spill.
Wildlife covered in oil and dark muck flowing through the river. It’s not video from the Gulf of Mexico region, but just over 100 miles away just outside of Battle Creek in Marshall.
This comes after 877,000 gallons of oil from a ruptured pipe leaked into the Kalamazoo River on Monday.
“From my perspective the response has been anemic,” Granholm said.
The pipeline, owned by Enbridge, has been shut down.
A very stern Granholm told reporters she doesn’t think the company is doing enough to contain the spill, and she wants a cleanup plan in place soon.
“There needs to be a lot more done. A lot more skimmers, a lot more boom,” she said.
Granholm says the state is working with the Environmental Protection Agency, and for local agencies, the concern now is to prevent further damage to wildlife and wetlands.
“They need to put their resources on preventing further spreading of the crude and they need to do it tonight,” Granholm said.
There is an investigation into Enbridge. Officials will be look at any an all issues the company may have had in the past.
Officials say the last time the pipeline was inspected was back in 2009.
