Mich. Governor Calls on EPA to Help Stem Oil Spill

(July 28) -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm asked for federal help today to contain oil from a pipeline break that dumped more than 800,000 gallons of crude into a major waterway that empties into Lake Michigan.

"We are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to do everything possible to get additional resources here to prevent the oil from spilling," Granholm said in a news conference.

Two days after a leak from an underground pipeline between Canada and the U.S. sent oil spewing into more than 16 miles of the Kalamazoo River, the governor called for more resources to stop the oil from spreading further.

She also criticized the response of the pipeline's owner, Enbridge Energy Partners in Houston. "There needs to be a lot more done," she said. "There are not enough resources on the river right now."

Enbridge recently doubled its efforts to skim the slick off the river, in what is believed to be the worst oil spill the Midwest has ever seen. The company said it had 200 workers on site at the spill.

The White House has pledged its swift support in the crisis, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Officials worried that rain, forecast for the region later today, could make the cleanup efforts more difficult.

"It won't help, but we are prepared," Steve Wuori, an Enbridge vice president, told the Kalamazoo Gazette today.

Enbridge reported the leak to federal officials Monday and shut down the pipeline immediately.

"Our intent is to return your community and the waterways to its original state," Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel told reporters Tuesday. "We've made significant progress since yesterday. We still have a lot of work to do."

But Granholm has called the company's response "anemic" and raised questions about whether Enbridge had "undersold" the size of the spill to the government, according to a report in The Detroit Free Press.

Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Mich., agrees and has been vocal in his criticism of the oil company. His chief of staff, Ken Brock, told The New York Times that "the volume [of the spill] is bigger than what they're saying." Enbridge officials defended the company's estimate of 819,000 gallons in a news conference today.

There are also signs that the pipeline may have been leaking as early as Sunday evening, when residents called to complain about the smell of oil, local officials said.

Marshall Township Fire Chief Steve Riggs, for example, told The Detroit News that the fire department received complaints about the odor about 12 hours before Enbridge was aware of a leak.

The long-polluted Kalamazoo River is already a Superfund site, aka the target of a federal cleanup project. The cause of Monday's leak is still under investigation.