OAKLAND, Wis. (AP) 鈥� Roughly 70000 gallons (264,978 litres) of oil from a pipeline spilled into the ground in Wisconsin, officials said.
The problem was discovered Nov. 11 in Jefferson County, 60 miles (96.5 kilometers) west of Milwaukee, by an Enbridge Energy technician, the citing a federal accident report.
Enbridge told the newspaper that the spill on the company's Line 6 was caused by a faulty connection on a pump transfer pipe.
The Canadian company said the cleanup was ongoing Friday and that about 60% of the soil has been removed.
Enbridge said the spill was immediately reported to regulators, though the report by a federal pipeline safety agency said the line was likely leaking for an "extended period of time.鈥�
鈥淲e are working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as cleanup and restoration proceed," the company said.
Phone and email messages seeking comment from Enbridge were not immediately returned Saturday.
Line 6 is a 465-mile (748.3-kilometer) pipeline carrying crude oil from Superior, Wisconsin, to a terminal near Griffith, Indiana,
Critics noted the spill was discovered during the same week that the first permits for Enbridge's plan to move the aging Line 5 pipeline around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation. Opponents said it would still threaten the region鈥檚 watershed and perpetuate the use of fossil fuels.
The Associated Press
