Oil spills and violations
Enbridge's pipeline was responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the United States[76] in 1991, when 1700000 U.S.gal of oil ruptured from a buried pipeline in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, spilling crude into a wetland and a tributary of the Mississippi River.[76]
Using data from Enbridge's own reports, the Polaris Institute calculated that 804 spills occurred on Enbridge pipelines between 1999 and 2010. These spills released approximately 161,475 oilbbl of crude oil into the environment.[77]
On July 4, 2002, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near the town of Cohasset, Minnesota, in Itasca County, spilling 6000 oilbbl of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for one day and created a smoke plume about 1 mi high and 5 mi long.[78]
In 2006, there were 67 reportable spills totaling 5663 oilbbl on Enbridge's energy and transportation and distribution system; in 2007 there were 65 reportable spills totalling 13777 oilbbl.[79] On March 18, 2006, approximately 613 oilbbl of crude oil were released when a pump failed at Enbridge's Willmar terminal in Saskatchewan.[80] According to Enbridge, roughly half the oil was recovered.
On January 1, 2007, an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin, cracked open and spilled ~50,000 USgal of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[81] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~201,000 USgal of crude, of which about 87000 U.S.gal were recovered. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 ft deep and contaminated the local water table.[82][83]
In April 2007, roughly 6227 oilbbl of crude oil spilled into a field downstream of an Enbridge pumping station near Glenavon, Saskatchewan.[80]
In January 2009, an Enbridge pipeline leaked about 4000 oilbbl of oil southeast of Fort McMurray at the company's Cheecham Terminal tank farm. Most of the spilled oil was contained within berms but about 1% of the oil, about 40 oilbbl, sprayed into the air and coated nearby snow and trees.[84]
On January 2, 2010, Enbridge's Line 2 ruptured near Neche, North Dakota, releasing about 3,784 barrels of crude oil, of which 2237 oilbbl was recovered.[83][85] In April 2010, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured spilling more than 9.5 oilbbl of oil in Virden, Manitoba. This oil leaked into the Boghill Creek, which eventually connects to the Assiniboine River.[86]
In the July 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, a leaking pipeline spilled more than 1,000,000 USgal of oil sands crude oil into Talmadge Creek leading to the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan on July 26, near Marshall, Michigan.[87] A United States Environmental Protection Agency update of the Kalamazoo River spill concluded the pipeline rupture "caused the largest inland oil spill in Midwest history" and reported the cost of the cleanup at $36.7 million (US) as of November 14, 2011.[88] PHMSA raised concerns in a Corrective Action Order (CAO) about numerous anomalies that had been detected on this pipeline by internal line inspection tools, yet Enbridge had failed to check a number of those anomalies in the field.[89] The Michigan spill affected more than 50 km of waterways and wetlands and about 320 people reported symptoms from crude oil exposure.[90] The National Transportation Safety Board said at $800 million, it was the costliest onshore spill cleanup in U.S. history.[91] The NTSB found Enbridge knew of a defect in the pipeline five years before it burst.[92]
On September 9, 2010, a broken water line caused a rupture on Enbridge's Line 6A pipeline near Romeoville, Illinois, releasing an estimated 7,500 oilbbl of oil into the surrounding area.[88][96]
On June 22, 2013, Enbridge subsidiary Athabasca pipelines reported a pipeline leak of approximately 750 barrels of light synthetic crude oil from Line 37 near Enbridge's Cheecham, Alberta, terminal about 70 km southeast of Fort McMurray. The 17-kilometre-long, 12-inch diameter pipe was constructed in 2006 and links the Long Lake oilsands upgrader to the Cheetham terminal as part of Enbridge's Athabasca system. Unusually heavy rainfall in the region, also responsible for the 2013 Alberta floods, may have caused "ground movement on the right-of way that may have impacted the pipeline."[97] Enbridge's Athabasca (Line 19) shares a portion of right of way with Line 37 and Enbridge's Wood Buffalo/Waupisoo (Line 75/18), a major part of the network that serves Alberta's oilsands.[98] All three lines were closed down as a precautionary measure. Operations between Hardisty and Cheecham were restored on June 23 when Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline (Line 19) was restored to service.[97]
On July 1, 2013, WWMT News in Michigan reported that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had issued a citation against Enbridge for contamination of North Ore Creek by an Enbridge pipeline maintenance activity.[99]
On January 30, 2017, a road crew in Texas punctured the Seaway S-1 crude oil pipeline, which is jointly owned by Enterprise Products Partners and Enbridge through the joint venture Seaway Crude Pipeline Company. Two days later, it was unclear how much oil had spilled over the nearby Highway 121 northeast of Dallas. After the incident, supply concerns reportedly helped push "oil prices 2% higher in early trading to nearly $54 a barrel."[100]
On October 9, 2018, Enbridge's Westcoast Pipeline exploded in Shelley, British Columbia,[101] sparking a massive fireball and leading to shortages of natural gas throughout British Columbia.[102]
On November 11, 2024 Enbridge's Line 6 pipeline spilled 69,300 gallons of crude oil underground. According to Enbridge, the spilt oil was a result of a faulty connection on a pump transfer pipe. An enbridge technician was the first to discover the spill in Oakland, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Enbridge in response started soil removal in polluted areas from the spill.[103]
