State House Lansing Michigan

Dozens gathered in the Michigan state capitol today to protest the expansion of the Enbridge oil pipeline that cracked and leaked over 800,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River in Marshall, Michigan on July 25th, 2010 – “…the costliest inland oil spill in history.”

Groups including The National Wildlife Federation, We Are the Kalamazoo, and Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, met with state representatives to protest the planned expansion of the very same pipeline to pump more than three times the oil through it – 8oo,ooo barrels a day.

According to National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman, Enbridge had discovered the defects, five years previously, in the pipe that caused the massive spill but took no measures to correct the problem. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is recommending a record 3.7 million dollar fine.

The concerned Michigan residents are calling the expansion unacceptable.

For more info click Lansing State Journal here, and We Are the Kalamazoo here.