LANSING (WKZO-AM) — State officials say Kalamazoo and Calhoun County residents who inhaled chemical fumes after the rupture of an Enbridge Energy oil pipeline in July 2010 shouldn’t experience long-term health problems.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said residents who lived near Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River reported headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing and eye irritation to the agency after the incident, where 800,000 gallons of crude were spilled.
“Air monitoring near cleanup sites in 2011 and 2012 did not find oil-related chemicals in the air at concentrations exceeding the human health screening levels,” a press release from the agency reads. “Therefore, people did not breathe oil-related chemicals long enough or at levels high enough to cause long term health effects.”
The full report can be read here.
The agency said health-related complaints linked to the Line 6B rupture continued until August 2010.
The spill impacted roughly 38 miles of the Kalamazoo River. In 2014, the price tag for the cleanup hit $1.21 billion.
In July, the Canadian company reached a $75 million settlement with the state.
– Anthony Pollreisz
