Vacuum crews work to remove tar sands oil near the spill site, August 2, 2010. (Photo courtesy U.S. EPA)
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — On the second anniversary of the costliest onshore oil spill in U.S. history, environmental groups held rallies in several states Wednesday to raise concerns about transporting tar sands oil in underground pipelines.
Demonstrators walked along the riverfront in Battle Creek, near the southwestern Michigan site where a pipeline ruptured in 2010 and spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River. Others staged “We Are the Kalamazoo” events in other states to rally opposition to new and expanded pipelines for carrying oil from sand deposits.
Tar sands are sand and rock that contain crude bitumen, a heavy form of crude oil.
“By taking a stand against tar sands, we are fighting for people’s rights and health,” said Susan Connolly, who participated in the Battle Creek walk and lives in Marshall, the town nearest the spill.
She said the spill — which spewed an estimated 843,000 gallons of crude in the river and a tributary creek — created fumes that gave her family nausea and headaches. The cleanup has cost so far a record $800 million.
Organizers said events also were held in Oklahoma, Washington state, Nebraska, New York, Connecticut, Montana, Maine, Vermont and Delaware.
The pipeline, operated by Enbridge Inc., ruptured on July 25, 2010. Officials said 35 miles of waterways and wetlands were fouled and about 320 people reported symptoms from crude oil exposure.
By JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer. To read full article visit source as cross-posted from here
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Reblogged this on NonviolentConflict.
Two days after the spilliversary your friends, and mine, spilled 1200 barrels of crude oil in a Wisconsin feild. According to the National Wildlife Federation, Enbridge had 804 pipelines spill more than 6.8 million gallons of crude oil between 1999 and 2010. Now they seek to replace older segments of line 6b (the one that broke in Marshall, Mi two years ago) with bigger (36 inch) pipes in the name of maintenance. Do they think we are oblivious to the nature of their business?