Canadian Oil Company to Pay $4Mln Settlement for US Oil Spill

The United States has proposed a settlement of nearly $4 million to compensate damage to communities and the environment caused by a 2010 oil spill in the US state of Michigan, Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the Canadian energy company Enbridge will pay $4 million to resolve US federal, state and tribal claims against the company for a 2010 pipeline spill that leaked 20,000 barrels of oil into the Kalamazoo River.

“This settlement will restore natural resources affected by the 2010 spill – one of the largest inland spills in our history – and compensates the public for natural resource losses resulting from the spill,” Assistant Attorney General of Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John Cruden said in the statement on Monday.

In addition to funding natural resource restoration projects along Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, the Canadian energy company would reimburse natural resource damage assessment costs to federal and tribal trustees and support their planning activities.

Trustees affected by the spill are asking to implement projects from the settlement, including tracking and protecting turtle reproduction in and around the Kalamazoo River region, restoring wild rice beds and restoring some 175 acres of oak, according to the statement.