Cleanup crews are responding to an oil spill in Pigeon River Country State Forest which was discovered last week.
More than 4,600 gallons of material spilled into a densely wooded wetland in the state forest: at least 50 barrels of crude oil, 60 barrels of brine, a saltwater byproduct, and 100 gallons of condensate, or natural gas liquids.
The oil, brine, and natural gas liquids have impacted about one acre of a valley wetland so far.
On April 16, workers discovered the leak from a flow line during routine maintenance and immediately shut down the line.
The ruptured flow line is owned by the company Lambda Energy Resources, which is also paying for remediation.
Getting to the remote site has been a challenge for crews working on clean up.
“They had to build roads so they could access where the release was,” said Josef Greenberg, a spokesperson with Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “They had to take down some trees to access where this area was. It was difficult terrain.”
He said crews have removed more than a thousand barrels of material from the site so far, including crude oil and brine as well as contaminated water and soil.
Vac trucks are collecting that material, and absorbent booms and monitor wells have also been installed.
Greenberg said crews are still delineating the plume and they're still in the early phases of cleanup.
“I've heard people say that this is going to be longer than 30 days,” he said. "But I don't know. I really hesitate to put a time limit on it.”
Greenberg said no drinking water wells are near the area, and there are no threats to public health or wildlife at this point.
EGLE is still assessing impacts on surface water and groundwater. But Greenberg said some vegetation in the area is damaged.
“In the spill area, the moss is basically gone. The moss is dead,” he said. “The evergreen trees in the spill area, they’re really showing stress.”
