Enbridge settles cleanup of west Mich. spill for $75M

State officials are announcing Wednesday a $75 million settlement with Enbridge Energy to finalize cleanup terms with the Canadian pipeline owner responsible for 2010’s massive Kalamazoo River oil spill. An oily residue floats on the surface of the water in this photo taken on May 7, 2015.

Talmadge Creek, photographed on Thursday, May 7, 2015, was the source of the leak. The agreement comes five years after an underground pipeline near Marshall ruptured, releasing more than 800,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into a nearby creek and, eventually, the river.

Members of the DNR and EPA kayak recently down the Kalamazoo River.

Homes on the Kalamazoo River were purchased from the owners by Enbridge after the spill. For many who lived along the affected 38-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo, the disaster meant health concerns, fish advisories, moving out of the area, loss of access to the river, loss of business and, in some cases, loss of their homes.

Jim Hensley casts his fishing line off 15 Mile Road recently in Marshall, Mich. "I eat everything I catch here, haven't had a problem once they opened this neck of the river back up," he said.

One of the guides tries his hand at fishing along the banks of the Kalamazoo River. Since the spill, Enbridge has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on cleanup work and compensation for those affected. Dan Wyant, director of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, described the deal as a “huge win for Michigan.” But the department couldn’t say where it ranks among environmental settlements in Michigan history.

The site of the former Ceresco Dam is now a park along the Kalamazoo River.

A kayaker makes his way on the Kalamazoo River under I-94. The settlement package — which ends any further legal action against Enbridge for the 2010 spill — includes $40 million in already-completed projects and $35 million in work yet to be done.

Crews work to contain an oil spill in the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek on July, 29, 2010. The settlement includes $30 million in wetland compensation — restored and newly acquired acreage, and $18 million for removal of the Ceresco Dam (completed in 2014), and restoration work on the surrounding mile of the Kalamazoo River.

Workers collect oil from a spill along Talmadge Creek on July 27, 2010, in Marshall Township, Mich. Also part of the settlement: $5 million for stream restoration throughout the watershed. $12 million in reimbursement to the state, as well as assurances Enbridge will pay future oversight costs.

Oil thick as mud clings to the shoreline as workers try to clean up an oil spill near Marshall, Mich., on July 27, 2010.

Geese constantly spread their wings and shake in vain attempts to shake oil from their bodies. A spill near Battle Creek released 800,000 gallons into waterways, including the Kalamazoo River in Marshall Township, in July 2010.

Cydnie Shephard of Circle D Wildlife Refuge cleans up a baby muskrat at their facility in Vicksburg, Mich., on July 28, 2010 in wake of the Enbridge oil spill.

Workers try to clean up an oil spill near Marshall, Mich., on July 27, 2010.