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Michigan Oil Spill Victims Charge “Deception”
News Articles | CBS News | Armen Keteyian | September 14, 2010
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(CBS) While the country was focused on the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, there was another oil spill in Michigan, the biggest ever in the Midwest. Fish died. Birds were covered in oil. And it left residents worried about their own health.
Now, they’re complaining about some questionable tactics by the company that owns the leaky oil pipe.
Historic Marshall, Mich., has long been known as a fountain of old world charm. But now, as CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports, it’s now stuck in a river of trouble.
On the morning of July 26, part of the world’s largest pipeline, stretching 1,900 miles between the U.S. and Canada, ruptured. The 800,000 gallons of crude oil that poured into the waterways surrounding the town fouled the air with a noxious odor, threatened the water and drenched local wildlife.
Now that mess has turned into another one. Enbridge, the Canadian energy giant that owns the pipeline, is accused of deceptive tactics by dozens of homeowners affected by the spill.
“People are signing stuff that they don’t know what they are saying and they sign away a lot of their rights,” said Marshall resident John Laforge.
In a joint investigation with the Center for Public Integrity, CBS News obtained two documents. One is a “settlement” form. Some residents claim the company coerced them to sign it for a $300 air purifier and some evacuation expenses. In exchange, Enbridge in released “from and against all liability, claims {and} actions…” The company disputes that.
The other document, a release form, allows Enbridge access to “any and all” medical records. Residents claim it had to be signed before Enbridge would pay for a visit to a clinic.
Residents in a mobile home park charge they were deceived by Enbridge. “It was, more or less, sign your name here, and you know, you’re done,” Nancy Morgan said.
Enbridge’s alleged actions have outraged the head of a powerful Congressional committee. “This is exploitation,” said James Oberstar, Chairman Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “This is exploitation of unknowing and unskilled people who have never had to face a situation like this before.”
Keteyian asked Enbridge spokesperson Terri Larson, “Why in the world would you ask people of this community to sign those forms?”
“They’re standard forms,” Larson said. “There’s nothing abnormal of those forms.”
But the federal government says there’s nothing standard about them – expressing concern in a letter that Enbridge’s medical form “…authorize the disclosure of an inappropriately broad amount of medical information.”
“Are you familiar with the word that the Department of Health and Human Services used in conjunction with that form?” Keteyian asked Larson.
“No,” Larson replied.
“Deporable. That’s the word they used. And what do you say to that?”
“Again, it’s a standard form. Our intent was good. Our intent was to do the right thing by the residents of these communities.”
Under pressure, Enbridge says it has discontinued using the forms and hired a former mayor of Detroit to oversee the claims process. Still, Rep. Oberstar is calling for a federal investigation into this oily mess.
Tagged with: enbridge, oil spill, michigan, kalamazoo river
