Great Lakes oil proposals threaten repeat of Kalamazoo spill, environmentalists say

Great Lakes oil proposals threaten repeat of Kalamazoo spill, environmentalists say | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"We have six pipelines that cross the (U.S.-Canadian) border now," said Denise Hamsher, director of project planning for Enbridge's major projects group.
"They've been transporting crude oil since the 1950s and have been transporting oils from the Canadian oil sands for decades."
What's often being shipped isn't the oil seen gushing out of Texas oil towers in old movies.
It's tar sands crude or dilbit, a semisolid form of petroleum also known as diluted bitumen.
The sludgy product requires mixture with chemicals or other petroleum products to move through pipelines. Environmentalists argue it's a far harsher product on pipelines, and much more difficult to clean up when spills happen.
It was dilbit that spilled during the worst inland oil spill in U.S. history, a July 26, 2010, pipe breach in Marshall that devastated wetlands, Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River.
The product combined with river sediments and sank to the bottom, making traditional oil cleanup booms and surface skimmers ineffective."