Enbridge, Inc. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to a six-month extension on fines the company expects will be imposed as punishment for a 2010 pipeline rupture that sent more than one million gallons of oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. The fines are expected to be the largest ever for a oil pipeline spill, perhaps as much as $100 million.
The new deadline came as part of negotiations between the company and federal officials as they reached the five-year statute of limitations on July 25 for imposition of fines.
The company disclosed in documents recently filed with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the deadline had been extended. An Enbridge spokeswoman confirmed the length of that extension.
Enbridge said in the SEC filing that it expects a minimum fine of $40 million, but provisions of the federal Clean Water Act allow for a fine exceeding $100 million.
