WXPR is still working to learn more about the natural gas liquids leak in Iron County Tuesday.
Enbridge says a semi-truck, that was parked and had no one in it, rolled into the Line 5 pipeline at an excavation site for a Line 5 valve project causing the leak.
“The section of pipe was immediately isolated. Local emergency response crews remain on site. Line 5 is shut down as the response continues,” Enbridge communications person Juli Kellner told WXPR in an email. They declined an interview at this time.
A “no fly zone” is still in place over the site.
The company is still calculating the volume released, according to reporting by the Journal Sentential.
The leak is currently considered an active incident and the Wisconsin DNR does not yet have environmental staff on site to evaluate the potential impacts. The Wisconsin Department of Health services will be working with the DNR to evaluate potential impacts to water, soil, air and human health.
What are natural gas liquids?
Natural gas liquids are hydrocarbons, including ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, and natural gasoline. They are separated from natural gas during processing. They are used as fuels and as feedstocks in the production of products such as plastics, medical supplies, electronics, clothing, and fertilizers.
According to Enbridge, Line 5 transports up to 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) of light crude oil, light synthetic crude, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), which are refined into propane.
Dr. Ray Mentzer is a Professor of Engineering Practice at Perdue University and Executive Director of the Purdue Process Safety & Assurance Center.
He doesn’t have knowledge of this specific incident. Pipeline leaks are among his areas of research.
“I would guess that the NGLs evaporate,” said Mentzer. “These hydrocarbons, at this molecular weight, want to be vapor, and in general, they're going to evaporate.”
Mentzer says environmental impacts will depends largely on how much was leaked.
“They're going to have to have their environmental people look at the site and basically determine is there any residual left there or has everything evaporated?” said Mentzer.
Line 5 stretches from Superior, Wisconsin through the U.P. to Ontario.
Enbridge is in the process of rerouting Line 5 around the Bad River Reservation in Iron and Ashland Counties.
WXPR’s Maria Peralta-Arellano contributed to this story.
