BBC News — A pipeline carrying oil from the US state of Indiana to Ontario, Canada has spilled more than 800,000 gallons (3m litres) of oil into a creek which flows into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
A spokesman for the firm running the pipeline, Enbridge Energy Partners, said a malfunction had caused the leak.
The spill has killed fish and endangered wildlife in the region.
Officials said the pumps which feed the pipeline had been shut down as soon as the leak was discovered.
The 30-inch (76cm) pipeline carries 8m gallons of oil per day between the towns of Griffith, in Indiana, and Sarnia, in Ontario.
The pipeline, called the Lakehead System, is one of the largest in the world.
A pungent odour now hangs over the Kalamazoo River valley, local media report.
The oil originally spilled into the Talmadge Creek in Calhoun County, Michigan, north-west of the Kalamazoo River.
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Anybody see the video of this river and the oil boom across it. They claim they are catching oil with this useless piec of crap. The river is flowing at about 20 miles or more per hour. At that speed and the oil being lighter than water simply jumps this thing. Boy these people think we are dumb as a bucket of rocks. I must say evidence shows that most people are actually dumber than a bucket of rocks and will most likely ignore this major environmental disaster heading to our Great Lakes.
jim tolnai
Hi Jim,
I drive (as rarely as possible) an automobile powered by gasoline (which comes from oil). I imagine you do and most of the people whom I know. I have a friend in the U.S. Who drives a hybrid car which uses very little gasoline. The time for alternative cars is way overdue. If we, the consumer, made it clear that we want them they would soon be available despite the economic power of the oil lobby. Can we claim that we have no responsibility for the oil that is pouring into our country and being spilt around the world devastating the environment?
For more than a century the world has been in love with mechanical transportation driven by oil or coal. Our seas are close to death. We are close to being stifled by the lack of oxygen in the air.
We need to get the rocks out of our heads and act like beings of flesh and blood. Remember that it is never too late to make a new beginning.
Nicholas Rowe
I do not drive unecessarily nor does my wife. Our 12 year old car has all of 104,000 kilometers on it. My van for business is actually used even less. I do have an electric scooter but it’s use is limited by weather and seasons. But I do use it as much as possible. Yes I take responsibility but only to a point that we must get arround and I am frugal in use. The problem with these spills is they are mostly a cause of greed. If we don’t maintain then we make more profit. If we don’t have to drill a backup relief well we will make more profit. That is what is wrong. People also drive for entertainment instead of necessity. I don’t so my concience is clear.
jim tolnai
Hi Jim,
I apologise if my piece of writing made you feel guilty or conscience stricken. I am trying to challenge the ‘group mind’. In the ‘group mind’ all the members of the group go along with the behaviour of the group. I’ll give you an example. Some while ago I read in the news that a group of about five teenagers had murdered one of their teachers. When they were asked: ‘why did you do this?’ Each one of them said that they were afraid of offending the group
There is a vast social group which habitually uses oil in almost every aspect of life. We take our gasoline cars on the roads and deal with all the vast diesel burning transport trucks which carry our goods. We go to an airport and watch the great fuel carrying tankers pour their liquid into the great jet planes. We mow our lawns with oil and we use it to to do all our construction. A large amount of our surplus garbage comes from oil.
We did not choose to be born into this society but whether we like it or not we are a member. What can we do about it? First of all we must acknowledge we are a responsible individual. Then we need to put together two contradictions. First we will continue to use our gasoline cars because at the moment we have no choice. At the same time we must nurture in our minds and emotions our intense dislike for what we and many other people are doing. The more people who do this the sooner oil will cease to be a menace to our world. The ‘group mind’ will be disabled. More than 100 years ago people fell in love with the gasoline car. There are are excellent alternatives now available. If we maintain our hope and determination things could change very quickly.
It is very important that we do not blame others for the damage that is being done by oil. We can place pressure on our governments and industry to make changes. We can be annoyed with our forebears who created this situation. But the fact remains that we are responsible and only we can change things. If we all put our energies mental emotional and physical to this task I am sure that we can succeed.
I feel no guilt and my concience is clear for I make the effort. What I do question is lumping everyone as one group. There are all kinds of people who form their own group and make effort at different levels to keep our environment sustainable. My comment was really about the greed involved in much of our environment problems. Notice I am not saying profit but the greed for more and more profit at others expense. So are these geniuses who are captains of industry really smart or are they just con men? Me thinks most of them make these profits inspite of their brain power not being the strongest in the room. They make these profits not because of cleverness but because of a lack of concience.
jim tolnai