US, Oil Company Enbridge Reach $177Mln Settlement for 2010 Oil Spills

The Department of Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership to resolve claims stemming from its 2010 oil spills, according to official statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States has reached a $177 million settlement with the oil company Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership over oil spills in the US states of Michigan and Illinois, the Department of Justice said in a press release on Wednesday.

"The Department of Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership… to resolve claims stemming from its 2010 oil spills in Marshall, Michigan, and Romeoville, Illinois," the release stated.

Enbridge will spend at least $110 million on measures to both prevent oil spills and improve operations on its nearly 2,000 miles of pipeline in the Midwest, the release noted.

"This agreement puts in place advanced leak detection and monitoring requirements to make sure a disaster like this one doesn’t happen again," Environmental Protection Agency Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles said in the release.

Enbridge will also pay civil penalties of $62 million for violating the Clean Water Act with the leakage of thousands of barrels of oil. Moreover, the company will pay $5.4 million to the US government in connection with unreimbursed cleanup costs from the two oil spills, according to the release.