Enbridge CEO:  “We are fully committed to returning this river back to the way it was before, if not better,” says Daniel.

Enbridge CEO meets the press

By Todd A. Heywood 8/12/10 11:17 AM  of Michigan Messenger

MARSHALL — In a 30-minute interview with the Michigan Messenger, Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel pledged to return Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River to the way it was prior to the oil spill, but he downplayed any long-term damage from the leak while experts say the effects on both wildlife and human life could be significant and long-lasting.

Over the weekend, local newspapers have reported on the potential long-term effects on the local ecosystems and on the fact that the oil spill has silenced the songs of frogs, which are so key to the web of life on the river. Experts say this is not uncommon with releases of toxic substances into waterways. Frogs, they say, are exceptionally sensitive to the chemicals. But Daniel seemed unconcerned about any long-term dangers.

“I don’t think it is [accurate that the ecology of the river will suffer long term], at least no significant ecological damage,” Daniel, 63, said. “The experts are going to be more believable on this than I, but any experience I have had with any spills that we have had in the past … is that there are few long term impacts.”

In the Detroit Free Press, experts said the rupture of Enbridge’s Lakehead Pipeline 6B in late July has likely decimated smaller animals in the ecosystem. Those smaller animals — frogs, smaller fish, insects — are the bottom to the ecological food chain. They are also most likely to have been negatively impacted by the more than one million gallons of Cold Lake Crude oil that flowed down Talmadge Creek and into the Kalamazoo River, impacting in all about 30 miles of waterway in Calhoun County.

Asked if the reports of the silenced chorus of amphibians concerned him, he responded, “It concerns if that is the case. I also, though, would expect a full recovery from that and fairly quickly.”

But in other cases of major spills, that has not been the case. While the Exxon Valdez spill was much larger than this one, 21 years later the smaller fish that provide food for larger ones and were the basis of the local fishing industry have still not returned to the areas affected by the spill. In reality, the long-term effects from that spill have actually exceeded the predictions of scientists at the time.

And the long-term effects on human health could be severe, though difficult to quantify and pinpoint. Benzene is a known carcinogen, and the tar sands oil that spilled into Michigan waterways is known to contain much higher levels of heavy metals than regular crude oil.

It was on that issue — the type of oil being transported in the pipeline when it ruptured — that Daniel finally reconciled his own previous statements with what experts have said.

“No, I haven’t said it’s not tar sand oil. What I indicated is that it was not what we have traditionally referred to as tar sands oil,” Daniel said when asked about the Messenger’s report identifying it as such. “If it is part of the same geological formation, then I bow to that expert opinion. I’m not saying ‘No, it’s not oil sands crude.’” It’s just not traditionally defined as that and viewed as that.”

Enbridge has said the oil that was flowing through 6B at the time of the rupture was Cold Lake Crude, which must be mixed with a lighter petroleum product called diluent in order to thin it out enough to push through the line. Experts tell Michigan Messenger this mix can lead to various issues with the pipelines, including false readings and alarms from the remote sensing computer system used to control the network of pipelines.

“No, there really shouldn’t be any correlation between the type of crude and the impact on the pipelines,” Daniel said. He said the mixing of the crudes to thin them out makes that issue a non-issue.

What is more important, however, is the issue of corrosion on the line, Daniel said. But experts told the Messenger that the use of diluent does not increase corrosion in the pipes. Still, how the company handles corrosion is an important piece of the puzzle.

Under federal regulations pipelines are regularly inspected by a tool called an “intelligent pig.” The tool is a high tech version of an elongated rubber ball that is used to clean the lines called a “dumb pig.” The intelligent pigs carry ultrasound equipment and “an onboard computer,” Daniel said.

As they go through the lines they record the readings of the ultrasounds on the lines, and that data is then analyzed “much like x-rays or an MRI,” Daniel said.

“[Analysts] say ‘OK, here’s the signature of a potential problem,’” said Daniel. “Then we go in and either reduce the pressure and if it looks like it is threatening the safety of the line based on PHMSA [Pipelines Hazardous Material Safety Administration] standards we proceed with the dig and sleeve program. Or both.”

Anomalies in Lakehead Pipeline 6B were found that way earlier this year and Enbridge, as late as July 15, was negotiating with regulators at PHMSA about what a response to those readings should be. Daniel said that at the time of the Marshall incident, there was a “dig program” underway further up the line. In such situations, the company either places an additional thickness of steel around the line to reinforce it, or if the detected “anomaly” is large enough, they cut out the pipe and replace it.

The line in Marshall had no such anomaly detections, Daniel said.

As for the Line 5, which snakes across the state’s upper peninsula, across the straits of Mackinac down the East side of the state and across the St. Clair River to Sarnia, Ontario, Daniel said the line was functionally stable.

“Not that I am aware of,” Daniel said when asked if there were any anomalies detected on Line 5. He also said the spur from 6B to Toledo, Ohio had no issues either. The Michigan Messenger has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the PHMSA seeking inspection reports for all of the pipelines in the state of Michigan, but has not yet received that material.

Daniel took pains to explain that every piece of metal has anomalies.

“There are anomalies in all pipelines — and in fact in all metal,” he said. The pigs help the company identify those issues, he said, and then the company proceeds to fix those which were identified as likely problems.

With multiple investigations happening as a result of the spill, as well as the release of information from various sources, Daniel was asked if this pipeline spill had been too politicized.

“I haven’t really thought of it as political, in that we all want to rest assured that when we start this line back up, that it’s done safely,” he said. “I have to admit I have focused more on the facts and issues around it than I have on the sequencing of the word coming out. I’m really not that worried about it.”

But sometimes, such as when rumors swirled around that an Enbridge employee had been on the site of the leak on July 25, the night before it was discovered, Daniel admits he is frustrated. The NTSB investigation prevents him from discussing the specific information, such as the location of his company employees and trucks.

Even as some claim Enbridge’s public proclamations of wanting to do right are a public relations ploy, Daniel says he has moved to Michigan for the foreseeable future to continue to meet with residents and leaders and oversee the clean up and remediation of the river.

“We are fully committed to returning this river back to the way it was before, if not better,” says Daniel.

Congressional Hearings scheduled   http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100806/NEWS01/8060319/-1/RSS?obref=obinsite

MICHIGAN MESSENGER:

Mining expert says flawed design will lead to safety problems

By EARTHA JANE MELZER 7/14/10 1:53 PM

In the wake of the EPA’s decision that no federal permit is necessary for a controversial new nickel sulfide mine to be located on state land near Lake Superior, state officials and mining experts are questioning the state’s ability to adequately regulate the project on its own.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Menominee), the outgoing congressman for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, recently warned that Michigan is not prepared to regulate Kennecott’s mining project. Stupak said that Kennecott’s parent company Rio Tinto, is known for cutting corners on environmental and safety matters and that a $17 million assurance bond put up by the company would not be enough to deal with damage that the mine could create.

The decision that the company does not require a federal permit for its wastewater system means that the responsibility for regulating operations at this massive project falls entirely to the state.

Staff and funding for environmental programs, however, have taken heavy cuts in recent years and this year’s merging of the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources, together with more cuts scheduled for next year’s budget, is expected to further erode the capacity of the state to enforce regulations that protect against environmental degradation.

According to state Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokesman Bob McCann, there are no minimum requirements for inspections by regulators and it will be lucky if officials manage to visit the mine once a year.

“For most businesses in Michigan if we inspect them once a year that’s a lot,“ he said. “We don’t have the people to be out in the field a lot and our resources are dwindling.”

MDNRE staff have warned that they do not have enough people to adequately respond to environmental complaints, and a major state environmental group, the Michigan Environmental Council, has asked the EPA to review Michigan’s air quality program to see if the state is fulfilling its duties in carrying out this federally mandated program.

Rio Tinto is expected to invest $469 million to develop the mine which is expected to produce around 30,000 tons of nickel and copper per year for the next six years.

State Rep. Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) — a candidate for Congress in Stupak’s district — suggested that because of the lucrative nature of the operation Kennecott would be willing to pay for needed regulation by the state.

“I believe that they want those metals badly enough that they will pay for that,” he said.

But according to McCann of the DNRE, there are no provisions in state law that would allow for that arrangement.

Michigan has required Kennecott to set aside $17 million to cover the costs of closing the mine in the event that the company ceases operations before the site is returned to its previous state.

This money is not expected to cover the costs of repairing any environmental damages that may occur during the operation of the mine, McCann said. These expenses the state would have to pursue separately through legal action.

Opponents of the mine argue that the ground and surface water contamination is likely to result from Kennecott’s activities and that the state could be stuck with a decades-long cleanup with costs that could range into the billions.

Mining consultant Jack Parker says that environmental damage is likely if the mine is constructed as designed.

Parker, who holds geology and engineering degrees from Michigan Technical University and has spent several decades working in about 500 mines across the U.S. and abroad, says that flaws in the analysis of the mine’s geology means that the current design is vulnerable to collapse.

“The mine will be unstable,“ he said. “People could get hurt.”

If the mine collapses then the surface is likely to collapse and that would upset the drainage, he said. One of the reaches of the Salmon Trout River comes close to the mine and a collapse could potentially destroy parts of this tributary to nearby Lake Superior.

Parker also warned that the state does not have inspectors with the experience necessary to evaluate the plans for the Kennecott mine and that Michigan has not followed state law by requiring that mine operations consider and limit the impact of blasting on area fish populations.

Kennecott has also failed to conform with state rules by demonstrating that their groundwater discharge system will work as planned, Parker claimed.

Kennecott’s operations have resulted in water contamination elsewhere

In Utah’s western Salt Lake Valley, where another Kennecott subsidiary is involved in copper mining, operations have resulted in groundwater contamination plumes that cover 70 square miles and impact the drinking water of several communities with sulfate, lead, arsenic, cadmium, fluoride, aluminum and nickel.

Douglas Bacon, a manager with Utah Department of Environmental Quality’s Department of Environmental Response and Remediation, has worked on supervising clean up of the mining area for the last 12 years.

“In the state’s opinion since 1995 Kennecott has been cooperating with remediation plans supervised by state and federal government,” Bacon said.

Kennecott, the state of Utah and the EPA have entered into a cleanup agreement under federal Superfund law and the company is carrying out and funding cleanup activities.

It took nine years of work by the state to get to this point, however.

Utah first filed suit against Kennecott in 1986 and was unable to get the company to agree to address its pollution until the federal government stepped in with threats of enforcement action.

Jon Cherry, who is now working to develop Kennecott’s nickel mine in the Upper Peninsula as general manager of Kennecott Eagle Minerals, previously worked on the Utah mine — where he coordinated cleanup response plans with the EPA.

In light of this history, opponents of the new UP mine have not yet given up on stopping the project. They have filed suit in circuit court in Washtenaw county, arguing that the permits were issued in violation of state mining law.