Oil Pipeline Leak Slowing
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the leak from an oil pipeline outside Chicago appears to be slowing.
EPA on-scene coordinator Sam Borries said Saturday that the oil is no longer rising to the surface and crews have cut opened pavement and dug about 5 feet to the 34-inch diameter pipe.
He says pipeline owner Enbridge Energy Partners will drill through the pipe to extract more oil.
The EPA has ordered Enbridge to stop all the flow of oil near Romeoville by noon Monday.
Borries says that as of Friday, 200 to 600 barrels of oil per hour were being recovered but it couldn't be determined yet how much oil had spilled.
He says air quality monitors indicated there's no health threat to residents near the site.
The leak is to blame for a spike in gas prices in Metro Detroit, according to AAA Michigan. Click here for more on that story.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
