Enbridge Pipeline Leak Spills 70,000 Gallons of Crude Oil in Wisconsin

The corporate name stands out on tanks at the Superior terminal of Enbridge Energy in Superior, Wis., on June 29, 2018. Jim Mone/AP Photo

Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge has confirmed that it has cleaned up about 60 percent of a nearly 70,000-gallon oil spill from one of its lines in Wisconsin.

An Enbridge employee discovered the spill on Nov. 11 while conducting a visual inspection of Line 6 at the Enbridge Cambridge Station, located west of Milwaukee, according to a federal accident report.

Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the spill—estimated at around 1,650 barrels, or 70,000 gallons—was caused by a faulty connection on a pump transfer pipe within Enbridge Cambridge Station.

Kellner said the faulty connection has since been repaired and around 960 barrels, or roughly 60 percent of the volume of the oil spill, have been cleaned up.

“Investigation and remediation began immediately upon discovery and continues,” Kellner said. “Removal of impacted soils is continuing.”

Enbridge is working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as cleanup and restoration proceed, she added.

According to a company map, Line 6 is a 465-mile pipeline that transports crude oil from Superior, Wisconsin, to a terminal located near Griffith, Indiana.

The spill occurred at around the same time that the Wisconsin DNR approved the state permits needed for Enbridge to move forward with plans to replace and reroute parts of a different pipeline—Line 5—through a portion of Wisconsin’s Northwoods.

On Nov. 14, DNR issued a wetland and waterway permit with more than 200 conditions attached, as well as stormwater management approvals, allowing Enbridge to proceed with plans to replace a 20-mile segment of Line 5, including a controversial 12-mile section running through the Bad River Reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Enbridge’s proposed reroute for Line 5 would bypass tribal lands entirely, extending the pipeline to a 41-mile path outside the reservation.

The DNR’s permit conditions seek to mitigate environmental impact through stringent erosion control measures, water quality protections, and compliance with state standards.

The project, which has been operational since 1953, has faced opposition from tribal leaders and environmental advocates, who cite risks to local water sources and ecosystems. A coalition of Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribal nations urged President Joe Biden to support their efforts to decommission the Line 5 pipeline entirely.

“Most notably for our purposes, the pipeline (constructed in 1953 with an expected lifespan of 50 years) splits into dual lines and crosses under the Straits of Mackinac between Lakes Michigan and Huron, where it lays exposed on the bottomlands for over four miles,” reads the coalition’s Nov. 4, 2021, letter to Biden. “Twice in the last three years, ship anchors in that busy navigational thoroughfare have struck either the pipeline or its supporting structure, and only extreme good fortune has kept the pipeline from rupturing.”

The tribal leaders argued that a Line 5 rupture would have “catastrophic” consequences, with the potential to contaminate more than 700 miles of Lake Michigan and Huron shoreline.