GENEVA TOWNSHIP (WKZO-AM) — About 200 barrels of diesel fuel has gushed out of an 8-inch pipeline in a rural field near South Haven, and crews are moving in quickly to reseal the pipe and clean up the mess.
200 barrels is about 84-hundred gallons or about 1/100 the amount of petroleum product that was released by the big Enbridge Oil Spill near Marshall nearly six years ago.
Officials say a blueberry farmer tending one of his fields near County Road 380 and 62nd St. in western Van Buren County accidentally damaged the line owned by Wolverine Pipeline, resulting in the spill at about noon on Friday.
Health officials say there is no immediate threat to public health and there have been no evacuations. They say the spill has been contained.
Just hours after the spill, excavating equipment began arriving on scene to remove the contaminated soil.
