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Enbridge spill creates oil backlog
News Articles | Calgary Herald | Dina O'Meara | August 17, 2010
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A pipeline rupture in Michigan has resulted in a backlog of crude along Enbridge Inc.’ s massive system, forcing the company to cut capacity on a major oil line into the U.S. by eight per cent, executives said.
The Calgary-based pipeline company said Monday it lowered the volumes flowing on its 490,000-barrel-per-day Line 5 from Superior, Wis., to Ontario to reduce pressure in the system.
The pipeline is the main alternative for Canadian refiners since Line 6B, from Griffith, Ill., to Sarnia, Ont., was closed after rupturing last month, spilling 3.3 million litres of crude oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River.
Monday’s announcement was the first confirmation of how much capacity, approximately 39,200 bpd, had been cut on the line. Reports of the reduction had surfaced last week.
“We reduced capacity on Line 5 by about eight per cent last week, and that’s the only line that we’ve taken those measures on,” said Steve Wuori, vice-president of liquids pipelines, in a media briefing. “That reduction was voluntary and not mandated by anyone.”
Wuori said the company regularly reviews and adjusts operating pressures on the system, but does not anticipate having to tell shippers to cut back scheduled volumes.
“Right now it looks like we do not need to institute apportionment on any of the lines, and we’re going to watch that very closely,” he said.
Line 9, which flows oil west from Montreal to the petrochemical complexes in Ontario, has seen an increase in shipments as refiners have found alternative sources of feedstock, he added.
Refiners in the United States have also felt the pinch as volumes on the 190,000-barrel-per-day Line 6B have been rerouted or stored in tanks as Enbridge awaits U.S. approval for its restart plan.
“Safety is the first concern that we have, and between the original plan and now the plan that we filed on Friday we have adequate provisions to ensure that this line is started safely,” CEO Pat Daniel said.
Enbridge will be digging up six sections of pipe along a 19-kilometre stretch where the July 26 rupture occurred to test for anomalies. The company will also run a hydrostatic test through the repaired portion of pipeline to check for any leaking.
Daniel could not give an estimate of how long the testing would take, or when regulators would get back to the company on its revamped startup plan.
The company’s first plan was rejected last week and resubmitted Friday.
Cleanup efforts along the lush Kalamazoo River in Calhoun County continue, with oil being carted off the swampy area and containment booms being placed in new sites along the waterways.
“The restoration project for the Talmadge Creek area and the source area where the pipeline occurred will be extensive because of the type of environment where the spill occurred,” said Mark Durno, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
