About a dozen people from Enbridge Pipelines' offices in southeast Saskatchewan have assisted with clean-up efforts since July’s pipeline leak in Marshall, Michigan, says Gina Jordan, the manager of communications for Enbridge.
The first batch of Enbridge employees were there at the end of July, just a few days after the incident.

“Some of the folks went down to assist with shoreline clean-up,” said Jordan. “We've also had some of the staff from the (southeast) area assisting with logistics, purchasing and procurement, and various other aspects in terms of the clean-up.”

The creek’s banks were quite high when the pipeline leak occurred, Jordan said, so shoreline clean-up has been a priority. The shoreline has to be scraped of oil, and vegetation has to be washed or removed.

About 1,300 people are on-site, Jordan said, so there is a lot of logistical work to organize the workers.

The majority of the free product that leaked into the river has been recovered, Jordan said.

Jordan said that the Enbridge employees who have gone to Michigan are well-trained workers who have been willing to be deployed for the clean-up. Southeast Saskatchewan employees have been very valuable contributors.

“There's a variety of training that goes into managing, maintaining and operating the pipeline,” said Jordan. “Training specific to the incident response would be related to safety around the clean-up of the shore, for example, or recovery of product off the water.

“We do regular training exercises in all of our areas of operations with our staff, to ensure that in the event of an incident that people are prepared and they know how to respond. We have good systems in place to ensure that people know what their role would be and how to execute that role safely.”

Incidents such as pipeline leaks are rare for Enbridge, Jordan said, and she believes pipelines remain the safest way to transport petroleum products.

In addition to shoreline work, Enbridge is paying a lot of attention to the site where the leak occurred, Jordan said. Crews have been removing contaminated soil, and transporting the soil to an appropriate facility.

Enbridge accepts full responsibility for the incident, Jordan said, and they are committed to restoring the site of the leak to its original condition.