Lake Michigan in Potential Danger From 20,000 Barrel Oil Spill in Kalamazoo River
Posted on 31. Jul, 2010 by Linx Daniel in Headlines, Health
Oil-coated Bird in Kalamazoo River, Enbridge Oil Spill
Everyone is more than aware of the DeepWater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Many are aware of the 600,000+ gallons of oil spilled in China. Yet another major incident has occurred in Michigan.
Monday, July 26th, a corroded pipeline belonging to Enbridge, Inc. failed, near Marshall Township, Michigan, and dumped close to 20,000 barrels of oil into the Kalamazoo River. The Enbridge oil spill is endangering many sensitive ecological areas down the Kalamazoo River. Far more worrisome than just the sensitive ecology on the Kalamazoo River, is the fact that the oil has a relatively high chance of entering Lake Michigan.
Lake Michigan, in addition to having many extremely unique ecological areas and habitats, also happens to be one of the largest sources of fresh water in the world. If the oil contaminates Lake Michigan, it can disrupt much of the northern Midwest.
Another large source of concern is the high levels of Benzene which have been found in the atmosphere around the spill area. Benzene is a known carcinogen, or cancer causing agent. Benzene has been positively linked to such cancers as Leukemia. Having a high level of Benzene in the atmosphere is quite frightening, and the extremely high potential of it getting into the groundwater is yet another major worry. At present, over a dozen homes have been completely evacuated, and around 100 more families have been warned to not use their tap water, as it was potentially unsafe.
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