MARSHALL, Mich. - Enbridge Executive Vice President Steve Wuori said on Aug. 19 that the company was preparing to hydrostatically test six sections of the oil pipeline that failed in Marshall in July.
The ruptured spilled up to one million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed.
Wuori said that U.S. government regulators haven't said when oil can resume flowing in the pipeline, which runs from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
He says the Canadian company will conduct high-pressure hydrostatic tests in six sections that inspections have shown might have similar weaknesses to the segment that failed in July.
Preparations for the hydrostatic testing were expected to extend through the Aug. 20 weekend.
Preparations include excavating around spots on the 190,000 b/d pipeline that were shown in previous tests to have anomalies similar to the rupture location near Marshall, Mich.
In hydrostatic testing, water is pumped into a section of the line about a dozen miles long. The water is then pressured up and the pressure held for a set period of time to test the integrity of the section. The pipe passes the test if no further blowouts occur. The downside is that the hydrotest can weaken the pipe, making it vulnerable to future accidents.
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