You know that you’re in the middle of a real environmental crisis when your government tells you, “people are warned to avoid time in the immediate area around the river” and declares a “state of disaster”. That’s just the situation that people around Kalamazoo will be confronted with when they wake up this morning.
Oil spills are slapping the United States silly. Just after I got done writing about a new offshore drilling oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I got news of an oil spill in Michigan. It’s stretched 16 miles long and is moving toward Lake Michigan.
The oil spill is estimated to contain close to one million gallons of crude, and has already fouled many animals, including formerly white swans, living along the Kalamazoo River. It took place when a pipeline run by Enbridge Incorporated burst open.
That pipeline sends millions of gallons across the border out of the United States every day. If we really need more oil drilling to serve domestic American needs, how come we have pipelines like this sending crude oil to foreign customers?
Trouble in the Mississippi as well:
“The Coast Guard says a barge accident on the Mississippi River last night has caused the closure of seven miles of the river and sent three towboat crew members to a Memphis hospital.
An unknown amount of acrylonitrile was spilled. It’s a compound used in the making of plastics, among others, and is flammable and toxic.”
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2010/07/27/chemical-spill-in-mississippi-river