transportation and distribution

Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB NYSE: ENB) is a Calgary, Alberta based company focused on three core businesses: crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transportation and distribution, and green energy. The company has approximately 6,000 employees, mostly in Canada and the United States. The company was initially incorporated as Interprovincial Pipe Line (IPL) in 1949, shortly after Canada's first major oil discovery at Leduc, Alberta. The original pipeline was constructed to transport oil from western Canada to refineries in the east. IPL became Enbridge Pipelines in 1998. The Enbridge name is a portmanteau from "energy" and "bridge".
In 2010, Enbridge was recognized as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Activities
2 Spills and violations
3 Environmental initiatives
4 Corporate governance
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Activities



Enbridge building in Edmonton, Alberta
Enbridge operates the world's longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system, located in both Canada and USA. It owns and operates Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and a variety of affiliated pipelines in Canada and the U.S., and has an approximate 27% interest in Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. which owns the Lakehead System in the U.S. These pipeline systems have operated for over 60 years and now comprise approximately 13,500 kilometres (8,500 miles) of pipeline, delivering more than 2 million barrels (300,000 m³) per day of crude oil and liquids. Enbridge is also the sponsor and manager of the Enbridge Income Fund.
Enbridge is also involved in liquids marketing and international energy projects and has a growing involvement in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses, through the Alliance and Vector pipelines, and various U.S. assets that transport, gather, process and market natural gas and other petroleum products.
As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, Enbridge Gas Distribution, which provides gas to industrial, commercial and residential customers in Ontario, Quebec and New York State. Enbridge distributes gas to more than 1.9 million customers. Enbridge owns approximately 70 per cent of, and operates Enbridge Gas New Brunswick which owns the natural gas distribution franchise in the province of New Brunswick.
Enbridge is encouraging the use of renewable and green energy by investing in wind and solar power and new energy technologies such as fuel cells. Enbridge has interests in four operating wind farms – two in Alberta, one in Saskatchewan and one in Ontario – with combined capacity of more than 260 megawatts. In late 2009 and early 2010, Enbridge added to its wind power portfolio with the announcement of investments in the Talbot and Greenwich wind energy projects. In October 2009, Enbridge announced its entry into solar energy with its investment in the 80 megawatt Sarnia Solar Project, which will be the largest photovoltaic solar energy facility in operation in Canada and one of the largest in North America. In 2008, Enbridge officially launched the world’s first hybrid fuel cell power plant.
In October 2009, Enbridge was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc.[3] Later that month, Enbridge was also named one of Alberta's Top Employers.[4], and one of Canada’s Ten Best Places to Work.[5]. In November 2009, Enbridge was recognized as Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Culture in the Energy and Natural Resources sector.[6]. In early 2010, Enbridge was recognized as one of Canada’s Greenest Employers.[7] .
[edit]Spills and violations

Between 1999 and 2008, Enbridge lists 610 spills that released approximately 21 million litres (132,000 barrels) of hydrocarbons.[8]
On July 4, 2002 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near the town of Cohasset, Minnesota in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (~250,000 gallons) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for 1 day and created a smoke plume about 1 mile high and 5 miles long.[9]
In 2006, there were 67 reportable spills totaling 5,663 barrels on Enbridge's energy and transportation and distribution system; in 2007, there were 65 reportable spills totaling 13,777 barrels [10]
On March 18, 2006, approximately 613 barrels of crude oil were released when a pump failed at Enbridge's Willmar terminal in Saskatchewan.[11] According to Enbridge, roughly half the oil was recovered, the remainder contributing to 'off-site' impacts.
On January 1, 2007 an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin cracked open and spilled ~50,000 gallons of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[12] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~126,000 gallons of crude. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet deep and was reported to have contaminated the local water table.[13]
In April 2007, roughly 6,227 barrels of crude oil spilled into a field downstream of an Enbridge pumping station near Glenavon, Saskatchewan. Long-term site remediation is being attempted to bring the site to "as close as possible to its original condition".[11]
In 2009, Enbridge Energy Partners, a US affiliate of Enbridge Inc., agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the company by the state of Wisconsin for 545 environmental violations.[14] In a news release from Wisconsin's Department of Justice, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said "...the incidents of violation were numerous and widespread, and resulted in impacts to the streams and wetlands throughout the various watersheds."[15] The violations were incurred while building portions of the company's Southern Access pipeline, a ~$2.1 billion project to transport crude from the oil sands region in Alberta to Chicago.
In January 2009 an Enbridge pipeline leaked about 4,000 barrels of oil southeast of Fort McMurray at the company's Cheecham Terminal tank farm. It was reported in the Edmonton Journal that most of the spilled oil was contained within berms, but that about 1% of the oil, about 40 barrels, sprayed into the air and coated nearby snow and trees.[16]
April 2010 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured spilling more than 1500 litres of oil in Virden, Manitoba, which leaked into the Boghill Creek which eventually connects to the Assiniboine River.[17]
July 2010, a leaking pipeline spilled an estimated 1,000,000 U.S. gallons of crude oil into Talmadge Creek leading to the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan on Monday, July 26. [18]