Enbridge Puts $15 Million Price Tag On Massive Line 5 Gas Leak
Federal filing details emergency response, property damage and cleanup costs in Iron County spill.
Around 150 people are responding to a leak of natural gas liquids from Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas pipeline, according to the company. Photo courtesy of Enbridge.
A report filed with federal regulators estimates an August gas leak on Enbridge’s Line 5 oil and gas pipeline in northern Wisconsin will cost at least $15.1 million.
An accident report filed by Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership Thursday to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration shows emergency response makes up the bulk of costs, which are estimated at nearly $9.9 million.
The company estimated the cost of public and private property damage and repairs would run about $5 million. Environmental remediation and lost product account for the remainder of estimated expenses.
Enbridge has said the leak occurred after a subcontractor’s unoccupied flatbed truck rolled into an open excavation site for a Line 5 valve project in Iron County, striking and puncturing the pipeline.
“The affected pipeline section was immediately isolated, and Line 5 was shut down. No injuries occurred, and one nearby rural residence was evacuated as a precaution,” wrote Stacy Soine, Enbridge’s regulatory compliance advisor.
The company told regulators about 33,000 barrels, or more than 1.3 million gallons, of natural gas liquids were released during the incident. Most of that has not been recovered since propane and butane vaporized into the air upon release. The company recovered 165 barrels from the trench with a vacuum truck.
The report sheds no new light on how the truck rolled forward into the trench, saying the cause is still under investigation. The company will submit more information in a supplemental report.
Enbridge told the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, the company shut down the pipeline within three minutes of the leak. Line 5 resumed service on Sept. 13. The report states systems to monitor the pipeline, including a leak detection system, were operating when the incident occurred.
“Operator immediately shut down Line 5 after notification from field personnel,” Soine wrote. “Due to the immediate shut down of Line 5, leak detection was not triggered.”
The company reported the incident to the National Response Center an hour later at 11:02 a.m. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has said its spills hotline received notification at 11:15 a.m.
Enbridge said wildlife and water has not been affected, and environmental monitoring remains ongoing. The company plans to test, remove and properly dispose of soil within the excavation area. An investigation and corrective actions ordered by PHMSA remain ongoing.
WPR previously reported that federal accident data shows the leak is the company’s and state’s largest oil and gas pipeline spill in Wisconsin in more than 50 years.
Environmental advocates and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have called on Gov. Tony Evers and the DNR to do more in response to the leak, including calls to issue a disaster declaration and revoke permits for Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute. They pointed to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s call for removal of Line 5 in the straits of Mackinac, as well as a new regulatory review of Michigan permits issued for Enbridge’s tunnel project.
Neither the governor’s office nor the DNR have responded to those calls.
Line 5 carries up to 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids daily from Superior to Sarnia, Ontario. The pipeline serves 10 refineries and propane facilities in the Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Enbridge built a temporary bypass to bring the pipeline back online amid objections from the Wisconsin DNR, which said the company lacked state approvals. The company contends construction was in line with existing permits and an application for changes to its stormwater permit. A DNR spokesperson has said the agency continues to review options in response to the unpermitted construction.
Last week, two company sites were damaged by fires — one at an office building in Superior, the second damaging drilling equipment at a drill site for the Line 5 reroute in Ashland County. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading a probe into both fires.
Roughly two-thirds of the $1 billion Line 5 reroute has already been built. The project employs 700 workers. At least five drilling fluid spills have occurred on the project, including one that spilled up to 1,900 gallons in June. In 2020, Enbridge proposed the reroute after the Bad River tribe sued the company in 2019 to shut down and remove the pipeline from tribal lands where pipeline easements had expired.
Three years ago, a federal judge found the company was trespassing and ordered Enbridge to pay roughly $5 million and shut down or reroute Line 5. The tribe and Enbridge appealed the decision. In August, a federal appeals panel ruled that Enbridge has been trespassing and must remove the pipeline from the Bad River reservation. However, it gave the company more time to complete the Line 5 reroute.
Enbridge estimates gas leak on Line 5 in northern Wisconsin will cost $15M was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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