The Enbridge Pipeline System is an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

pipeline system which transports crude oil and

dilbit Dilbit (diluted bitumen) is a bitumen diluted with one or more lighter petroleum products, typically natural-gas condensates such as naphtha. Diluting bitumen makes it much easier to transport, for example in pipelines. Per the Alberta Oil Sands ...

from Canada to the United States. The system exceeds in length including multiple paths. More than of the system is in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

while the rest is in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and serves the Athabasca oil sands production facilities. Main parts of the system are Canadian Mainline and Lakehead System (U.S. Mainline). On average, it delivers of crude oil and other products to the major

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquef ...

in the American

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

and the Canadian province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. The Canadian portion is owned by

Enbridge Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...

, while the U.S. portion is partly owned by that company through Enbridge Energy Partners, LP, formerly known as Lakehead Pipe Line Partners and Lakehead Pipe Line Company.

Background

The first portion of the pipeline was built over the course of 150 days in 1950 by a 1,500-man labor force. It crossed approximately from

Redwater, Alberta Redwater is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Sturgeon County. It is located on Highway 38, approximately north of Edmonton. Its population was 2,053 in the 2016 census, while the town's municip ...

, through

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five la ...

seaport A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

. At the same time, four

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined c ...

s were constructed to carry the crude from Superior to

Sarnia, Ontario Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...

. Oil first entered the pipe on August 25, 1950, and the first tanker, ''Imperial LeDuc'', was launched on November 4. Other tankers that followed were, ''Imperial Redwater'', ''Imperial Woodbend'', and ''B.A. Peerless''. Because the lakes froze in the winter, preventing tanker traffic, the decision was soon made to expand the pipeline all the way to Sarnia. In May 1953, contracts were awarded and construction began. At , it became the world's longest pipeline. A major upgrade was undertaken in the 1990s to replace old pipe and expand the system.

Mainline system

Today, there are two routes that oil can take between Superior and Sarnia. A northern route passes through the

upper Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

and

lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

peninsulas of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

before crossing into

, while the southern route circles south of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that ...

through

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

before reaching Michigan. There are 59 pumping stations in the pipeline system, and the actual pipes range in diameter from . One major junction point is in

Clearbrook, Minnesota Clearbrook is a city in Clearwater County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 464 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Main routes include Minnesota S ...

where the pipeline connects to the Minnesota Pipeline, which carries crude to the

Pine Bend Refinery The Pine Bend Refinery is the largest oil refinery in Minnesota, located in the Twin Cities suburbs of Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights next to southern split of U.S. Highway 52 and Minnesota State Highway 55. The refinery is notable for being t ...

Rosemount, Minnesota Rosemount is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States, on the southern edge of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The population was 25,650 at the 2020 census. Rosemount was established as a township in 1858 and incorporated as a ci ...

. The

North Dakota Pipeline Company system The North Dakota Pipeline Company (NDPL) system is a 950-mile (1530 km) crude oil pipeline system that collects oil from fields in the Williston Basin in Montana and North Dakota and transports it eastward to other pipeline systems that carry ...

of pipeline also has a connection in Clearbrook, linking the Mandan Refinery in

Mandan, North Dakota Mandan is a city on the eastern border of Morton County and the eighth-largest city in North Dakota. Founded in 1879 on the west side of the upper Missouri River, it was designated in 1881 as the county seat of Morton County. The population was ...

. The

Murphy Oil Murphy Oil Corporation is a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is ranked 625th on the Fortune 500 and 1860th on the Forbes Global 2000. As of December 31, 2020, the company had of estimat ...

refinery in

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

, is directly linked to the pipeline. Another point in

Lockport, Illinois Lockport is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, located 30 miles southwest of Chicago. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 26,094. The city was incorporated in 1853. It is situated along the Illinois and ...

connects two pipelines to Patoka, Illinois, plus a longer link to

Cushing, Oklahoma Cushing ( sac, Koshineki, iow, Amína P^óp^oye Chína, ''meaning: "Soft-seat town"'') is a city in Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,826 at the time of the 2010 census, a decline of 6.5% since 8,371 in 2000. Cushing ...

. A relatively short link from

Stockbridge, Michigan Stockbridge is a village in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Stockbridge Township about southeast from downtown Lansing. The population was 1,218 at the 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Ce ...

connects to two refineries in the

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...

area. The Mainline system, conventionally divided into the US and Canadian mainlines, consists of 1900 miles of pipeline that run from central

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

to southern

via the northern US. The system can carry up to 2.5 million barrels of oil per day. Lines 1 through 4 connect Edmonton to

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

. From there, Line 5 runs through the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

of Michigan and across the

straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connect ...

to cross back into Canada at the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron in ...

. Line 6 runs south through Wisconsin and Illinois to the terminal in

Griffith, Indiana Griffith is a town in the Calumet and St. John townships in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 16,331 in 2021. History The Griffith State Bank, E.J. and E. Griffith Interloc ...

, which serves

BP Whiting The Whiting Refinery is an oil refinery located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan and the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal and operated by BP. The facility is primarily located in Whiting, Indiana, USA, though portions of the complex span ...

and other Chicago-area clients, and then continues on through northwest Indiana and southern Michigan to rejoin Line 5 at

. The Mainline system comprises Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 61, 62, 64, and 67. Pipelines that connect to the system, but are not part of it, include Line 9 (Montreal to Sarnia), Line 17 ( Stockbridge to Toledo), and Line 55 ( Flanagan to Cushing).

Expansion

As of 2013 there were expansion plans for the pipeline system which would, if permitted and fully built, provide the capacity to transport an amount of

from the Athabasca oil sands into the United States and the Gulf Coast equal to that of the

Keystone Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alb ...

Accidents and incidents

Largest inland oil spill In U.S. history

In 1991, Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline spilled 1.7 million gallons of oil in

Grand Rapids, Minnesota Grand Rapids is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States, and it is the county seat. The population is 11,126 according to the 2020 census. The city is named for the long rapids in the Mississippi River which was the uppermost limit ...

and the Prairie River, a tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

. It was the largest inland spill of oil in U.S. history. Deliberations over construction of a new Line 3 pipeline have drawn resistance from

climate justice Climate justice is a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the burdens of climate change and its mitigation and responsibilities to deal with climate change. "Justice", "fairness", and "equity" ar ...

organizers and Native communities in Minnesota.

Cohasset, MN oil spill

On July 4, 2002, 252,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into a marsh near Cohasset, Minnesota due to a rupture of Line 4 running from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

.National Transportation Safety Board. (2002).
Rupture of Enbridge Pipeline and Release of Crude Oil near Cohasset, Minnesota
''. Pipeline Accident Report NTSB/PAR-04/01. Washington, DC: Author. Emergency responders enacted a

controlled burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A contro ...

at 4:45pm the next day to prevent the oil from penetrating into any waterways. The cost of remediating the accident was reported around $5.6 million.

Clearbrook Junction, MN, fire

On November 28, 2007, a large fire erupted during pipeline repair work at the Clearbrook Junction. This fire, described by a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as a "big fire, not an explosion", killed two workers and caused a $4 per barrel spike in oil prices the following day. The pipeline carries crude from

to the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area.

Kalamazoo River oil spill

On July 26, 2010, 840,000 gallons of

crude oil leaked from the pipeline in

Calhoun County, Michigan Calhoun County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 134,310. The county seat is Marshall. The county was established on October 19, 1829, and named after John C. Calhoun, who was at the time Vic ...

, spilling into Talmadge Creek that flows into the

Kalamazoo River The Kalamazoo River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is long from the junction of its North and South branches to its mouth at Lake Michigan, with a total length extending to when one includes the South Branch.U.S. Geologica ...

. Despite alarms at Edmonton headquarters it took eighteen hours and a report from a Michigan utilities employee before the pipeline company acted to halt the flow finally. Enbridge reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency for a total of $177 million in response to the spill, along with an additional spill in Romeoville, Illinois later that year. This settlement included $110 million in spill prevention, $62 million in Clean Water Act violations, and $5.4 million in cleanup costs. In addition, the company was fined $3.7 million by the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States an ...

due to 24 violations in pipeline safety regulation. By 2014, the cost of cleanup to the company totaled to $1.21 billion.

Mackinac Straits Tugboat anchor incident

In 2018, a tugboat dropped its anchor on the pipeline near the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connect ...

in Michigan, denting the pipe and causing 600 gallons (2,270 liters) of

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

to leak from two electric cables.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Enbridge

Enbridge Asset Map (current)
{{Canadian pipelines * Transport in Alberta Oil pipelines in Indiana Transport in Manitoba Pipelines in Michigan Oil pipelines in Minnesota Oil pipelines in North Dakota Transport in Ontario Oil pipelines in Wisconsin Oil pipelines in Canada Crude oil pipelines in the United States Energy infrastructure in Illinois Enbridge Oil spills in Alberta Environmental issues in Alberta