LANSING, Mich. – Some sections of the Kalamazoo River that have been closed to recreationalists since an oil spill last summer might be reopened by mid-to-late August, a health official said Friday.
Crews have been working to clean up a stretch of the river from near Marshall, in Calhoun County, west into Kalamazoo County that has been closed to boating and other recreation since an Enbridge Inc. pipeline spilled more than 800,000 gallons of oil last July.
Calhoun County health officer James Rutherford told The Associated Press that some definitive opening dates for portions of the Kalamazoo River could be set within a couple of weeks. Officials are still examining the health effects of submerged oil that remains in some parts of the river, Rutherford said. The location of the submerged oil may factor heavily into the decision about which stretches will reopen first.
Some sections likely won’t be reopened this summer.
“Obviously it will be piecemeal,” Rutherford said. “We’re working with Enbridge and the Environmental Protection Agency to assure that if indeed we do sectional openings, that they’re going to be safe. Our first and foremost concern is the health and safety of the community.”
Enbridge Inc. crews and contractors have been cleaning up a roughly 40-mile stretch of the river and a creek that feeds into it near where the spill originated. That work includes cleaning up pockets of oil that submerged into the river bottom over the winter.
Enbridge spokesman Jason Manshum said this week that more than 90 per cent of the spilled oil has been recovered.
“We’ll continue to be here until the job is done,” Manshum said.
The EPA is scheduled to provide an update on cleanup effort next week. Enbridge reported the spill on July 26, 2010.
The affected Enbridge pipeline stretches from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
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