(Battle Creek, MI) -- Federal officials are promising a massive amount of oil spilled from a Michigan pipeline isn't a threat to the Great Lakes. The EPA said Thursday about 820-thousand gallons of oil had spilled from a pipeline just east of Kalamazoo, Michigan. An on-scene coordinator for the EPA said the oil had been contained on a river roughly 50 miles from Lake Michigan, part of the largest supply of fresh water in the world. Crews have been using oil collection booms along the Kalamazoo River since Tuesday when the spill was first detected. The pipeline owner, Enbridge, said work is underway to dig up the damaged portion of pipeline so repairs can be made.
Earlier this week, health officials warned residents in about a hundred homes near Battle Creek to stop using their trap water due to fear the oil had found its way into their wells. Some residents were told to evacuate due to the health risk from fumes and Kellogg Company said it closed its Battle Creek cereal making operation for several hours due to concern about toxic fumes. With the pipeline shut down for repairs, refineries in Detroit, Toledo and in Ontario, Canada that use crude from the pipeline to produce petroleum products will have to use stored supplies.
