Incident Report

 

 

Subject:                     NTSB Releases Photos of Pipeline Spill - Michigan, Talmadge Creek

Date of Email report:   Tue 10/08/2010

Report Detail:

From left to right: John Hickey, Director Aircraft Certification Service; Honorable Mark Rosenker, NTSB Chairman; Mary Peters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation; and Robert Sturgell, Acting Administrator of the FAA; Matthew R. Ziemkiewicz, Vice President, National Air Disaster Alliance  Workers using suction hoses try to clean up an oil spill this week from the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek, Mich.  Close-up view of the section of pipe containing rupture.

The National Transportation Safety Board today released photographs of the pipeline that ruptured and spilled oil into a river last week in Marshall, Michigan. On the evening of Sunday, July 25th, a 30-inch crude oil pipeline, operated by Enbridge Energy Partners/Pipeline, experienced multiple low pressure alarms near the Marshall City Pump station during a planned shutdown. By 11:45am (EDT) the following morning Enbridge employees confirmed an oil leak extending into nearby Talmadge creek, a tributary to the Kalamazoo River. Two sections of the pipe, 23 feet, 4-inches and another 26 feet, 10-inches, have arrived at the NTSB for further examination. The photographs show the length of the fracture which extends approximately 6 1/2 feet longitudinally with the widest portion of the opening measuring 4 1/2-inches. The fracture was located approximately 25 feet from the upstream joint in a 40 foot section of 30-inch pipe. The NTSB's investigation continues. 

 

Additional Documentation: