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Company responsible for Michigan oil spill has history of pipeline leaks

Enbridge, the company responsible for a pipeline leak that spilled more than 800,000 gallons of oil into a Michigan river this week has a history of breaches on its network of oil and gas pipelines.
By Ken Paulman

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By Ken Paulman, Midwest Energy News

Enbridge, the company responsible for a pipeline leak that spilled more than 800,000 gallons of oil into a Michigan river this week, has a history of breaches on its network of oil and gas pipelines.

A May report by the Polaris Institute (PDF), drawing on government and Enbridge data, identified 49 ​“significant incidents” on the company’s pipelines between 1999 and 2009. The accidents, in total, resulted in three worker deaths, 26,000 barrels (more than 1 million gallons) of oil and other materials spilled, and more than $30 million in property damage.

Minnesota was the state with the largest number of these incident (18), including a 2002 spill that leaked more than 250,000 gallons of oil into a marsh near the town of Cohasset, previously the company’s largest U.S. spill.

Between 1999 and 2008, according to Enbridge’s own Corporate Responsibility Report, there were 610 spills on the company’s pipeline network, releasing 5.5 million gallons of oil and gas into the environment.

The cause of Monday’s spill, near Marshall, Mich., has not yet been determined. 

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Ken Paulman is the director of impact at Canary Media. He was previously the founder and director of the Energy News Network, which merged with Canary Media in 2025.

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