The grumble of machinery echoed in the early morning stillness along the Muskegon River valley. As the sun began its climb and fishermen were heading out for the day, the work crew launched a barge carrying an excavator and equipment to remove an abandoned pipeline from the river bottom. Spectators and work crews bundled to brave the cold eagerly looked on as the excavator lowered its bucket and pulled up the dripping pipe.
With a whine, a saw cut the metal into segments, freeing the Muskegon of any risk of residual oil from the pipe.
During the past summer, residents discovered oil slowly oozing out of the pipeline in Bridgeton Twp., which sat unused at the bottom of the river. After acquiring the appropriate permits, negotiating access agreements and hiring contractors, the DEQ and the former pipeline owner, Campbell, Wyant, and Cannon Textron (CWC Textron), jointly removed the pipeline last month.
CWC Textron scrubbed the residual petroleum from the pipe and removed contaminated sediments from river bottom. The DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division followed with the excavator to completely remove the pipe section that crossed the bottom of the river, eliminating both a low-water level navigation hazard and any danger of future releases.
CWC initially laid the pipeline in 1947 to carry natural gas from an oil field near Garfield Twp. to the company’s plant in Muskegon. The pipeline was abandoned in 1962 and later leased to various oil companies.
In 2000, DEQ emergency funds were used to remove oil from the old pipeline and isolate the segment below the river. However, residents again discovered residual oil slowly seeping out during the summer of 2014, and the work began to remove the pipeline entirely.
“We appreciate the partnership with CWC Textron, support from the landowners and local officials, and permitting assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” DEQ RRD Chief Bob Wagner said. “Thanks to this teamwork, the DEQ is happy to have this hazard to the environment removed.”
Source: DEQ