In a new video released by the National Wildlife Federation, Kalamazoo area resident Larry Bell, owner of Bell’s Brewery, critiques the actions of Enbridge in the wake of its Kalamazoo River oil spill following the rupture of Enbridge (U.S.) Inc.’s Line 6B oil pipeline, which spilled between 840,000 and 1.1 million gallons of oil seven years ago this summer.
Larry Bell describes the impact to his business when Enbridge attempted to build a remediation pad right next to the brewery. Bell eventually had to sue Enbridge to halt the pad, which could have carried chemicals from the cleanup into the brewery.

“When you take a look at these spills, there was an actual business consequence for us as a company,” said Bell. “We spent a lot of money on lawyers fighting Enbridge to basically save our brewery here.”

Jeffrey Insko, a homeowner along Line 6B and the founder of the Line 6B Citizens Blog, also describes his experience following Enbridge’s pipeline rupture. “It wasn’t just an accident. It was the failure of a whole set of processes and procedures at that company that ran very deeply.”

This video is the third in a series of videos and infographics produced for the National Wildlife Federation focusing on Enbridge’s Kalamazoo River oil spill and Enbridge’s 64-year old Line 5, which runs underneath the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The State of Michigan is releasing a report on alternatives to Line 5 as well as a report on the risks that Line 5 poses during a public information session on July 6.

“Given Enbridge’s track record in Michigan, the idea that we all wouldn’t be deeply worried about Line 5 is stunning to me,” said Insko. “A pipeline that is older than Line 6B was when it ruptured that is running through the world’s largest source of fresh water is crazy.”

The video can be viewed on the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center’s YouTube channel at: https://youtu.be/IAR7z76KWj8. For more information, visit the National Wildlife Federation blog.