BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A company operating a pipeline that dumped an estimated 877,000 gallons of oil into a southern Michigan river says it’s doubling its work force on the containment and cleanup effort.
Officials with Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. made the announcement during a Wednesday update on the spill. The company had about 200 employees and contractors working on the spill a day earlier.
The Environmental Protection Agency also is bringing in additional contractors.
Oil leaking from a 30-inch pipeline coated birds and fish as it poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River, one of the state’s major waterways, before it was shut off Monday.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer (SHA-wir) of Michigan has said Enbridge was slow in alerting federal authorities to the spill.