Enbridge Line 6B
Incident
Response
Overview and
Lessons
Learned
May, 2011
JULY 26, 2010

NRC Report
◦ Initial Report from RP: 19,500 Barrel Oil Spill in Marshall, MI
◦ On Call OSC in Westlake, Ohio, 4 Hour Response Time
◦ OSC on Removal Site in western Michigan, 2 Hour Response
Time

Responsible Party
◦ Enbridge Energy Partners, based in Calgary, Alberta, CN
◦ Line 6B is a 30-inch, 283,000 barrels/day line transporting
light synthetics, heavy and medium crude oil from Griffiths,
IN to Sarnia, Ontario.
◦ The pipeline where the break occurred is 41 years old.
Line 6B rupture point
* Over 80 river miles from Lake Michigan
Enbridge Pipeline System
ORGANIZATIONAL
RESPONSE STRUCTURE

Unified Incident Command
◦ U.S. EPA-Region 5
◦ Michigan State Police
◦ Michigan Department of Natural Resources and
Environment
◦ Calhoun County Emergency Management
◦ Calhoun County Public Health Department
◦ Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office
◦ City of Battle Creek
◦ Enbridge
Unified Command
U.S. EPA
MDNRE
Michigan State Police Emergency
Management Division
City of Battle Creek
Calhoun County Public Health
Department
Calhoun County Emergency Management
Kalamazoo County Sheriff
Enbridge (Responsible Party)
Cooperating and Assisting Agencies
ATSDR
Calhoun Conservation District
Calhoun County Commission
City of Kalamazoo
City of Marshall
Emmett Township
Fredonia Township
Kalamazoo County Office of Emergency
Management
Marshall Area Firefighters Ambulance Authority
Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians
Nattawaseppi Band of Potawatomi Indians
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Band of Potawatomi Indians
Marshall Police Department
Marshall Township Government and Fire
Department
Michigan Department of Agriculture
MDCH
NOAA
Oakland County HAZMAT/RRTN
PHMSA
USCG
U.S. Department of the Interior/USGS
USFW
Response Organization
- ICP
Wildlife
Recovery
Longer Term
Issues

Personnel on site:

2,500

Oil / water collected:

15 million gallons

Soil / Debris collected:

104,000 cu yds

Boom in water:

171,000 feet

Dredging water treated:

14 million gallons
Heavy Equipment:

94 pieces
Vacuum Trucks and
Tankers:

102

Frac Tanks:

126

Watercraft:

267


◦ Bulldozers, loaders,
excavators, etc.





Region 1: 8
Region 2: 5
Region 3: 22
Region 4: 7
Region5: 144

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

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
Region
Region
Region
Region
Region
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
HQ: 6
ERT: 6
CINC: 1
1
5
1
2
6
LEANING FORWARD

Opportunities for Action
◦ Prepare for immediate need for information at all
levels
◦ Re-Evaluate Regional IMT Pool to ensure if people
are in the right positions
◦ Implement new training for specific positions (SO)
◦ Having all Liaison Officer positions filled by ORC
◦ Develop strategies to develop better longer term
response continuity
 The plug-and-play approach is not appropriate for
every position.
LEANING FORWARD

Recommending Change to
Regulation/Guidance
◦ Need National Policy for Hazardous Duty Pay
◦ Need clarification on Night Differential Pay Policy
◦ Need HR staff on-site to explain and deal with
requests for Pay Issues
◦ Need Regional/National policy for Documentation Unit
◦ Need better communication between Situation Unit,
Resource Unit and REOC for staffing and situational
awareness
◦ PHMSA and EPA need an MOU regarding Response and
FRP
◦ NTSB **BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SIGN**

River re-assessment
◦ Poling
◦ Analytical
◦ Other technologies

Operation and Monitoring
◦ Over 100 sites
◦ River islands

Short term cleanup
◦ Amount of oil collected is minimal
 Approx 1-2 gallons / day

Long term cleanup
◦ MDEQ Orders
◦ Assessment & remediation
◦ EPA role
Thank You