ENBRIDGE ENERGY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2004-02-19

Hazardous liquid incident in GRAND RAPIDS, ITASCA County, MN. Reported cause: 3. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, YES CRUDE OIL released, $1,089,790 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.

Report number: 20040063.

Operator ID: 11169.

Reported incident date: 2/19/2004.

Cause detail: EARTH MOVEMENT

Cause detail: A CONTRACT CREW UNDER DIRECTION OF AN ENBRIDGE PROJECT COORDINATOR WAS BEGINNING TO DIG AN INDICATION (DENT WITH METAL LOSS) AT MP 1007.33 NEAR THE TOWN OF GRAND RAPIDS, MN. ALTHOUGH NO OIL WAS SEEN ON THE TOP OF THE GROUND,FRESHLY CONTAMINATED SOIL WAS ENCOUNTERED ONCE DIGGING COMMENCED. THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK WAS DETERMINED TO BE A SLOW, WEEPING CRACK ON OUR 26" LINE 2 PIPE. UPON EXCAVATION, A ROCK WAS REMOVED FROM THE DENT AND WAS DETERMINED TO BE THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE LEAK. A ONE-FOT TIGHT-FITTING SLEEVE, PLACED OVER A RUBBER PATCH, WAS WELDED OVER THE DENT. DISOCVERY, EVALUATION AND REPAIR OF CRACK WAS ALL COMPLETED WITHIN 12 HOURS. UPDATE 8/11/2004 - AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT HAS DETERMINED THAT THE GROUNDWATER DIRECTLY BELOW THE AREA OF THE LEAK WAS AFFECTED. ADDITIONAL MONITORING WELLS MUST BE INSTALLED TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF THE GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION. ONCE THE WELLS ARE INSTALLED AND MONITORED, A BETTER ESTIMATE OF VOLUME AND COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION CAN BE ESTABLISHED. FOLLOWING THE INSTALLATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A MONITORING WELL, APPROXIMATELY 1 FOOT OF OIL WAS OBSERVED IN EARLY AUGUST 2004. THE MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY WAS NOTIFIED OF THIS FINDING AT THAT TIME. ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION WAS NECESSARY TO DEFINE THE OIL LOST AND THE ASSOCIATED IMPACTS TO GROUNDWATER, WHICH TOOK SOME TIME DUE TO DIFFICULT SITE ACCESS, REQUIRED PERMITS, CHANGE IN LAND OWNERSHIP AND DIFFICULT DRILLING CONDITIONS (LARGE BOULDERS). DRILLING BEGAN IN EARLY SEPTEMBER AND CONTINUED THROUGH NOVEMBER UNTIL SNOWFALL RESTRICTED ACCESS. ALL MONITORING WELLS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY DEVELOPED AND SURVEYED. THE INITIAL MONITORING EVENT WAS COMPLETED IN MID-DECEMBER AND A CONFIRMATORY SAMPLING EVENT WAS CONDUCTED IN LATE JANUARY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE INITIAL OBSERVATIONS WERE VALID AND THE OIL THICKNESSES OBSERVED IN THE WELLS HAD STABILIZED. FOLLOWING THE COLLECTION OF THE DATA FROM THE LATE JANUARY SAMPLING EVENT, THE OIL LOST VOLUME WAS SUBSEQUENTLY CALCULATED BASED ON THE OBSERVED OIL THICKNESSES IN THE MONITORING WELLS AND REPORTED TO THE APPLICABLE AGENCIES INVOLVED.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious.

PHMSA standardized cause: NATURAL FORCE DAMAGE — EARTH MOVEMENT.

PHMSA indexed costs: $1,089,790 reported total cost, $677,997.157 in 1984 dollars, $1,669,698.333 in current-year dollars.

PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.