posted by on Aug 30
Oil spill class action lawsuit
It’s getting hard to keep the oil spills and related class action lawsuits straight these days. Now there’s an oil spill class action lawsuit in Michigan, with Enbridge Inc. named defendant. Their pipeline between Michigan and Canada sprang a leak this month, and leaked oil along twenty miles of the Kalamazoo River in South Central Michigan. Residents along the river were told not to drink or cook with their well water, and those who lived in the immediate area of the spill were told to evacuate.
Now, in their oil spill class action lawsuit, these residents are suing the Canadian energy company, but the works are still in the preliminary stages. Enbridge Inc, or Enbridge Energy, has been named before in class action lawsuits. Noxious fumes are coming from the river, and officials worry about lasting health problems. The wetlands around the Kalamazoo River are also in danger from the leaked oil.
Enbridge was warned by the US Environmental Protection Agency seven months ago about the conditon of the pipeline. It seems that corrosion levels did not meet Federal standards. They’ve been warned, cited and fined several times in the last decade, according to some reports. This is not their first oil spill class action lawsuit.
More than 800,000 gallons of oil have spilled into the Kalamazoo River, which became polluted last month after this oil spill. This Michigan oil spill is the worst in Midwest history. The pipeline carries oil from Western Canada into the United States.
A state of emergency was declared in the area, and skimmers and booms were deployed immediately in the area to control the oil spill. The area is located in south central Michigan, with Lake Michigan at the western end of the Kalamazoo River. Officials currently believe the oil will not reach the Lake.