Residents near Mich. oil spill advised to evacuate

BLADE NEWS SERVICES

Facebook Twitter Reddit Digg E-mail Print Rss

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Health officials are advising residents in about 30 to 50 homes near the site of a southern Michigan oil spill to evacuate because of air quality concerns.

Calhoun County health official Jim Rutherford says workers were going door-to-door Thursday afternoon to advise them to leave their homes.

Rutherford also says health officials are advising people living in about 100 homes with wells within a certain radius of the riverbank to use bottled water for drinking and cooking.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 1 million gallons of oil may have leaked this week into the Kalamazoo River, which leads to Lake Michigan.

The site is in Marshall Township, about 60 miles southeast of Grand Rapids.

Guidelines: Please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. If a comment violates these standards or our privacy statement or visitor's agreement, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report abuse. To post comments, you must be a Facebook member. To find out more, please visit the FAQ.