I Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Pipeline leak causes
By Tim Martin
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BATTLE CREEK, Mich.
Crews were working Tuesday to
contain and clean up more than
800,000 gallons of oil that poured
into a creek and flowed into the
Kalamazoo River in southern
Michigan, coating birds and fish.
Authorities in Battle Creek and
Emmett Township warned resi
dents about the strong odor from
the oil, which leaked Monday from
a 30-inch pipeline built in 1969 that
carries about 8 million gallons of
oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to
Sarnia, Ontario.
Crews waded in oily water as
they worked to stop the oil's
advance downstream. Oil-covered
Canada geese walked along the
banks of the Kalamazoo River, and
photos showed dead fish floating
in the spill. The Kalamazoo River
eventually flows into Lake
Michigan, but officials didn't
expect the oil to reach the lake.
"This is just a disaster," said
Raymond Woodman, 33, of
Emmett Township, who watched
workers use a vacuum truck to
suck oil from the water at the
Ceresco Dam, downstream from
leak. "It shouldn't matter how
much it costs to dean this up.
They need to clean it up."
Calgary, Alberta-based
Enbridge Inc.'s affiliate Enbridge
Energy Partners LP of Houston
estimated about 819,000 gallons of
oil spilled into Talmadge Creek
Obama quickens fundraiser pace
By Charles Babington
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON President
Barack Obama is accelerating his
fundraising pace, inviting
Democratic candidates to decide
whether the money he draws is
worth the Republican attacks that
a presidential visit might also
bring.
For some, it's no easy choice.
Democrats need millions of dol
lars to defend dozens of House
and Senate seats this fall.
But Obama's approval ratings
are sinking well below 50 percent
in several key states.
Obama is headlining four
Democratic fundraisers in three
days, including one Tuesday night,
and hosting another four events
next week.
For now he's playing it safe,
holding the eight events in non
competitive states or in a compet
itive place where he's sure to be
embraced: his home state of
Illinois.
As is true with most presidents,
candidates from his party know
there's often a political cost to the
hundreds of thousands of dollars a
presidential visit can net.
In Missouri, Republican Senate
candidate Roy Blunt is airing a TV
ad showing Democratic opponent
Robin Carnahan campaigning
with Obama during his July 8
fundraising visit to Kansas City.
The ad says Carnahan would be a
"rubber stamp" for Obama's poli
cies.
A recent statewide poll for the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch and
KMOV-TV found that 57 percent of
likely Missouri voters disapprove
of Obama s performance as presi
dent, while 34 percent approve.
Among independent voters, the
president's disapproval rate was
63 percent.
The poll showed Blunt leading
Carnahan in the race to succeed
retiring GOP Sen. Kit Bond.
Having the president visit "is a
double-edged sword," said Brian
Walsh, spokesman for the
National Republican Senatorial
Committee.
Carnahan raised a lot of money
from the event, he said, but it also
provided grist for Blunt's new ad.
"We'd welcome him to campaign
in states like Indiana, Kentucky,
Arkansas," Walsh said of Obama.
"These are states where his'agen
da is deeply unpopular.”
White House officials say
Obama will campaign vigorously
throughout the nation.
"The fall campaign boils down to
a choice between those who want
to keep moving forward and those
that want to take us back to the
policies that got us into this mess,"
said White House communica
tions director Dan Pfeiffer. "The
President will help make that case
across the country."
Obama is clearly the biggest
draw for Democratic donors in
general, and he's spending signifi
cant time this week and next at
events where guests have been
asked to give the legal maximum
of $30,400 per election cycle.
Only one of the eight fundrais
ers is tied to a specific candidate:
Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias
of Illinois.
The president attended a
Democratic National Committee
fundraiser Tuesday night in
Washington that was closed to
reporters.
He was set to attend two DNC
events Wednesday in New York
before the company stopped the
flow. Enbridge crews and contrac
tors deployed oil skimmers and
absorbent booms to minimize its
environmental impact.
"We are going to do what it takes
to make this right," Enbridge s
president and CEO Patrick D
Daniel said during a news confer
ence in Battle Creek.
The company had begun testing
the air near the spill, with the pri
mary concern being the possible
presence of the cancer-causing
chemical benzene. On Tliesday,
the company said it hadn't found
any levels that would be of con
cern in residential areas.
Groundwater testing also was
planned. Authorities evacuated
two homes near the leak, and
some locals said they were con
cerned about the fumes. But there
were no reports of sickened resi
dents.
As of Tuesday afternoon, oil was
reported in about 16 miles of the
Kalamazoo River downstream of
the spill, said Mary Dettloff,
spokeswoman for the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources
and Environment. She said state
officials were told during a compa
ny briefing that an estimated
877,000 gallons spilled a figure
more than 50,000 gallons higher
than the company’s public esti
mate.
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer. D
Mich., said he discussed the spill
with President Barack Obama.
Schauer called the spill a "public
“The fall campaign boils
want to keep moving for
want to take us back into
City, and a DNC fundraising din
ner Thursday in.a private home in
Washington.
Next week he will headline a
Democratic fundraiser in Atlanta
and three events in Chicago: two
for the DNC, the other for
Giannoulias.
He also will attend fundraisers
in Dallas and Austin, Texas.
Giannoulias is seeking the seat
Obama once held, so he's unlikes
to be harmed by being closely
linked to the president.
In California, which Obama car
ried easily, Democratic Sen.
Barbara Boxer has invited the
president to her re-election
events.
In Nevada, a more closely divid
ed state, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid also has welcomed
Obama and the money he raises.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who
was practically forced out of the
Republican Party because he
embraced Obama and his stimu
lus bill, is happy to pose with the
president now that he is running
for the Senate as an independent.
But in some states, Democratic
candidates are wary.
Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the
Democratic Senate nominee, was
absent when Obama made two
trips to the state earlier this year,
although he joined the president
and other top Democrats in
Columbus in mid-June.
A Quinnipiac University poll in
late June found that 49 percent of
Ohioans disapproved of Obama's
job performance, while 45 percent
approved.
Obama carried Ohio by 4 per
centage points in 2008.
Bill White, the Democratic nom
inee for governor in Texas, said he
will not appear with Obama when
the president visits his state,
known to be conservative, next
week
He suggested Obama's appear
David Zafubowski/Associated Press
Obama joins Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., during a rally in February.
health crisis," and said he plans to
hold hearings to examine the
response.
Tiie company was originally
slow I o respond and it is now clear
that this is an emergency,"
Schauer told reporters on a con
ference call.
Obama has pledged a swift
response to requests for assis
tance. White House spokesman
Matt Lehrich said.
The cause of spill was under
investigation. The site is in
Calhoun County's Marshall
Township, about 60 miles south
east of Grand Rapids. Michigan
Gov. Jennifer Granholm activated
the State Emergency Operations
Center.
Our focus is protecting
Michigan citizens and our envi
ronment by providing any needed
state resources to expediently
address the situation," Granholm
said in a written statement.
Enbridge said it had about 200
employees and contractors work
ing on the spill. Local, state and
iederal agencies also were
involved, and the National
Transportation Safety Board
iaunched an investigation. The
pipeline was shut down Monday
and isolation valves were closed,
stopping the source of the oil, the
company said.
Tiie Kalamazoo River eventual
ly bisects the city of Kalamazoo
and meanders to Saugatuck,
where it empties into Lake
Michigan. Officials didn't think the
down to.. .those who
:i and those that
s mess.
Dan Pfieffer
se communications director
eea cmight hurt his bid to unseat
Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
White said he thinks Perry "will
■ y to run against President
Obama because he knows that he
:an'i beat me."
Democratic officials said
'bbama will campaign next month
or Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland,
(Visconsin gubernatorial candi
iate Tom Barrett and Sen. Patty
Our: ay. 1) Wash.
i Hher candidates will welcome
urn also, party officials said, but
lot ready for release.
file, events as mundane
:■ ' : ,aias 49th birthday next
vv !■ : used for fundraising pur-
!adv Michelle Obama is
■vmericans to sign an e
mu:i i-'-ii'thday card, being distrib
i;.: - bv the pro-Obama group
ing for America.
l doesn't ask for money, but
’ shers can’t forward their
aoe s to the president without
trig their e-mail addresses,
~ e >an be used later to seek
a mas. votes or volunteers.
liannoulias' struggle to keep
the Illinois Senate seat in
' > .1 ratic hands is indicative of
artvs struggles this year,
conservatives seem far
< >nergized than liberals.
David Plouffe, Obama's 2008
campaign manager, said the pres
ident's Chicago visit next week will
care Democrats a needed boost.
You've got Republican enthusi
asm at a very high level," Plouffe
mid reporters Tuesday. "I don't
mink it can go much higher.
Democratic enthusiasm, obvious-
ly. is trailing and I really don't see
i declining anymore, so the ques-
: : is how much more can we
'mv. it."
■ lot will depend on Obamas
reception in coming months not
jus! from voters, but from
Democrats on the Nov. 2 ballot.
large oil spill
j"hr Battle Creek Enquirer
Volunteers scramble to save local wildlife affected by the pipeline leak.
oil would spread past Morrow includes four landfills and several
Lake, which has a dam upstream defunct paper mills,
of Kalamazoo, Dettloff said. The Michigan Department of
The river already faced major Community Health warned the
pollution issues. public to stay away from the creek
An 80-mile segment of the river and river during the cleanup. It
and five miles of a tributary, also said people shouldn't eat fish
Portage Creek, were placed on the from the waterways or have con
federal Superfund list of high-pri- tact with the water, and farmers
ority hazardous waste sites in and homeowners who use the
1990. water for irrigation or livestock
The Kalamazoo site also should stop.
Mein YorK/Associated Press
Tents in Phoenix have been set up to prepare for illegal immigrants.
Arizona prepares
for new state law
By Jonathan J. Cooper
and Michelle Price
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
PHOENIX The sheriff of
Arizona's most populous county
is making room in a vast outdoor
jail and determined to round up
illegal immigrants to fill it. Police
from the U.S.-Mexico border to
the Grand Canyon are getting
last-minute training. And
protests and marches are
planned throughout Phoenix.
Arizona's new immigration
law takes effect Thursday, creat
ing a potentially volatile mix of
police, illegal immigrants and
thousands of activists, many
planning to show up without
identification as a show of soli
darity.
At least one group plans to
block access to federal offices,
daring officers to ask them their
immigration status.
"Our message for that day is:
Don't comply, don't buy, " said
activist Liz Hourican, whose
group, Code Pink, plans to block
the driveway for immigration
offices in downtown Phoenix.
As both sides prepare, a feder
al judge is deciding whether to
step in and block the law.
It requires officers enforcing
other laws to check a person's
immigration status if they sus
pect the person is in the country
illegally.
It also bans illegal immigrants
from soliciting work in a public
place.
Police across the state scram
bled on Tuesday to train officers,
including on how to avoid racial
profiling, and plan for a potential
influx of detainees.
The hardest-line approach is
expected in the Phoenix area,
where Maricopa County Sheriff
Joe Arpaio plans his 17th crime
and immigration sweep.
He plans to hold the sweep,
regardless of any ruling by U.S.
District Judge Susan Bolton.
Arpaio, known for his tough
stance against illegal immigra
tion, plans to send about 200
deputies and volunteers out,
looking for traffic violators, peo
ple wanted on criminal warrants
and others.
He's used that tactic before to
arrest dozens of people, many of
them illegal immigrants.
"We don't wait We just do it,"
he said. "If there's a new law out,
we re going to enforce it."
He said that the space he
made in the complex of military
surplus tents can handle 100
people, and that he will find
room for more if necessary
Elsewhere in the state, police
officials said they didn't expect
any dramatic events.
They were busy wrapping up
The Daily Collegian
training sessions this week, with
some agencies saying that
untrained officers will not be
allowed on the streets.
Many of the state's 15,000
police officers have been watch
ing a DVD released this month
that signs that might indicate a
person is an illegal immigrant
are speaking poor English, look
ing nervous or traveling in an
overcrowded vehicle. It warned
that race and ethnicitv do not.
Some agencies added extra
materials, including a test, a
role-plaving exercise or a ques
tion-and-answer session with
prosecutors.
Critics of the law among
police chiefs remain, saying that
the law is so vague that no
amount of training could elimi
nate potential confusion.
"Am I going to sit here and say
I think every officer has a clear
understanding of the law when
they leave the training?" Tucson
Police Chief Roberto Villasenor
said. "No, because I think the law
is poorly constructed."
Arizona's law gives police two
options to confirm whether a
detainee is an illegal immigrant.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman
for U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, declined
to comment on preparations or
the role federal authorities
would play in enforcing the law,
except to say ICE "focuses first
on criminal aliens who pose a
threat to our communities."
Arpaio vowed to arrest all ille
gal immigrants and make them
spend time in his jail.
Other police officials said
they’d try to get the Border
Patrol involved as often as possi
ble to avoid the time and cost of
booking the detainees into jail.
Prosecutors are also prepar
ing for a potential influx of cases.
They are reminding officers
that they are required to explain
the circumstances of the origi
nal stop, why they suspected the
person was an illegal immigrant
and any comments made by the
suspect.
A march from the state
Capitol is planned at 4:30 a.m.,
followed by a prayer service, a
rally outside Arpaio's office and
later that afternoon a concert
outside a Maricopa County jail,
according to the Los Angeles
based National Day Laborer
Organizing Network.
The protesters both from
Arizona and elsewhere plan to
show up without identification
and hold peaceful rallies.
"It's defiance, to see if they
want to come and arrest those
people," said Pablo Alvarado, the
executive director of the
NDLON. "We dare them to come
and ask."