Enbridge has raised its estimate of how much crude oil spilled from a break in a Michigan pipeline last July.
The company, which has plans to build a $5.5-billion oil pipeline through northern B.C., has revised the spilled volume upwards to 20,082 barrels (3.2 million litres) from an initial estimate of 19,500 barrels (3.1 million litres), according to a report from Bloomberg News.
About 18,245 barrels of recovered crude oil is at Enbridge's Griffith, Indiana, storage terminal, the company's U.S. subsidiary said. This doesn't include oil recovered during the cleanup of the river and creek banks. About 8,033 barrels reached Talmadge Creek, which flows into the Kalamazoo River, Enbridge said.
The Michigan spill coated wildlife like geese, ducks, muskrats and turtles, as well as killing some fish.
The clean-up operation has moved into a restoration phase. The company will also be focusing on removing submerged oil from about 20 areas.
The oil spill in Michigan - one of the largest in the region - has already reiterated concerns from groups opposed to the Northern Gateway project in northern B.C.
Calgary-based Enbridge's Northern Gateway project from Edmonton to Kitimat is just beginning a two-year review by a three-person federal panel.
Enbridge says the pipeline will be built to the highest safety standards, as well as touting the jobs the project will create.
However the most vocal opponents of the pipeline have been First Nations and environmental groups, which say the risks of a spill are not worth any economic benefits from the project.
The proposed 1,170-km pipeline from Edmonton to Kitimat, which would pass just north of Prince George, is meant to open a new market for Alberta oil sands crude in Asia.
