According to a report on WMTV and a number of other media sources, a leak in an Enbridge pipeline in the town of Oakland in Jefferson County, about four miles east of Cambridge, resulted in an underground spill of an estimated 1,650 barrels, or about 70,000 gallons of oil. Although the issue was discovered by an Enbridge employee on November 11, and reported “immediately” to regulators, there was apparently no public notice until a report was released by the U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT] in the week of December 6. DOT indicated that the leak had been ongoing, apparently undetected, for an “extended period of time.”

Enbridge indicates that the spill on their Line 6 resulted from a faulty connection on a pump transfer pipe at the Cambridge Station. A leak detection system apparently failed. Repair and remediation costs are estimated at over $1 million. The company indicated that excavation is ongoing in consultation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, with 60% of the contaminated soil having already been removed. Per WMTV, “Line 6 is a 465-mile (748.3-kilometer) pipeline carrying crude oil from Superior, Wisconsin, to a terminal near Griffith, Indiana, according to a company map.“

The spill is the worst that Enbridge has experienced in the state, surpassing an incident in 2012 that spilled 50,000 gallons in Adams County.

The Duluth News Tribune reported, “Environmental advocacy groups said the spill shows the risks involved in operating oil pipelines. This week the Bad River tribe and environmental groups filed a legal challenge to state permits for a 41-mile stretch of new Enbridge pipeline in northern Wisconsin. Tony Wilkin Gibart of Midwest Environmental Advocates, which was part of that effort, pointed out in a statement that the Jefferson County spill was discovered the same week the state DNR determined the risk of spills along northern Wisconsin’s Line 5 would be “low.”

Written by Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com