It's What They Do. Enbridge Fined for Pipeline Inspection Violations.

You would have thought that after the horrible Kalamazoo River dilbit fiasco, Canadian pipeline giant, Enbridge, would have been a little more conscious about pipeline safety. Apparently not so much. Which is why Enbridge is now paying $1.8 million in fines.

Federal officials say Enbridge, Inc., did not carry out timely and thorough inspections on one of its pipeline systems, as it had agreed to do as part of a consent decree reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice. 

More than 1 million gallons of tar sands oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River near the town of Marshall when a 6-foot rupture opened in Enbridge pipeline 6B. Despite warnings of trouble, oil flowed for 17 hours before Enbridge shut down the pipeline. Ultimately, the oil pushed nearly 40 miles downriver, fouling 4,435 acres of land near the river's banks. It triggered a massive cleanup effort that cost the company $1.2 billion and kept the river closed for nearly two years. 

As part of a sweeping, $177 million settlement, Enbridge promised to look for cracks and corrosion on its Lakehead pipeline system, a nearly 2,000-mile grid of pipelines that brings oil from Canada into the United States. 

In a document filed in a Michigan federal court on Tuesday, the government alleges that Enbridge failed to properly conduct six inspections.