Initial cleanup of Michigan oil spill completed

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Officials say the initial cleanup of two southern Michigan waterways from a July oil spill has been completed, and most of the crude has been recovered.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said replanted grass is growing along the banks of the Kalamazoo River and a tributary creek into which the oil flowed.

About 760,000 of the roughly 820,000 gallons that leaked have been captured. EPA official Mark Durno says some remains scattered and the search for patches continues. Other oil has evaporated or was in contaminated soil that's been removed.

Enbridge Inc., owner of the ruptured pipeline, says it will recover oil from river sediments by Oct. 31 and eventually restore the area to its pre-spill condition.

The pipeline runs from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.

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