"Two years ago this month, an oil pipeline burst in Michigan, contaminating 38 miles of the Kalamazoo River. It didn't get much national notice because everyone was focused on the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

"But the mess created by that Michigan spill was so great that it's become the costliest onshore spill in history — with a price tag of more than $800 million. On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the spill on the failure of the pipeline operator, Enbridge Inc., to follow its own safety rules.

The NTSB said the federal government is culpable, too, because its Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration does not have the staff or regulatory muscle to safeguard the public.

'Delegating too much authority to the regulated to assess their own system risks and correct them is tantamount to the fox guarding the henhouse,' said Deborah Hersman, NTSB chairman."

Elizabeth Shogren reports for NPR's All Things Considered July 10, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Feds: Enbridge Detected Defect Years Before Massive Oil Spill" (Detroit Free Press) [3]

"Pull Plug on Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline, Says NDP's Thomas Mulclair" (Victoria Times Colonist) [4]

"Safety Board: Enbridge Ignored Defects in Oil Pipeline for 5 Years" (Detroit News) [5]

"NTSB: Neglect, Inaction Caused Michigan Oil Spill" (AP) [6]

"Enbridge's Michigan Oil Spill: Feds To Reveal Cause Of The 2010 Rupture" (AP) [7]

"Preventable Errors Led to Pipeline Spill, Inquiry Finds" (Green/NYT) [8]

"Enbridge, Inc. Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Rupture" (National Transportation Safety Board) [9]