Michigan says no long-term health risk expected after oil spill
June 11, 2012 1:24PM
MARSHALL, Mich. (AP) — Michigan health officials say there’s no long-term health risk or above-normal cancer concern for people coming in contact with submerged oil in the area of a pipeline rupture that fouled a southern Michigan waterway.
The Michigan Department of Community Health released its final health assessment Monday related to oil in sediment along the Kalamazoo River and a tributary. It comes from a July 2010 leak of more than 800,000 gallons of heavy crude near Marshall in Calhoun County that originated at the Enbridge plant in Griffith.
The assessment says repeated skin contact with the sediment or eating small amounts of it could cause temporary health effects such as skin irritation.
Officials say they took samples from 19 locations identified as having moderate to heavy amounts of submerged oil.
The 30-inch pipeline extends from Griffith to Sarnia, Ontario.
