U.S Fish & Wildlife Service NATURAL RESOURCE TRUSTEES Kalamazoo River Oil Spill Restoration Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Fish passage project in tributary of the Kalamazoo River Band of the Pottawatomi Tribe first project implemented from oil spill restoration plan National Oceanic and On July 25, 2010, Enbridge’s Lakehead Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Line 6B, a 30-inch diameter pipeline, and Atmospheric Administration, Match ruptured near Marshall, Michigan, and -E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of the Pot- discharged crude oil into a wetland adja- tawatomi Tribe, and the Nottawaseppi cent to Talmadge Creek in Calhoun Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribe. County, Michigan. The oil flowed down The Trustees completed the Damage Talmadge Creek and into the Kalamazoo Assessment and Restoration Plan in Oc- River which was in floodstage at the tober, 2015. The Natural Resource Trus- State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources time (Figure 1). Oil flowed down the tees recently announced the completion Kalamazoo River and through the river of a fish passage project on Pigeon floodplain for approximately 38 miles to Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo Riv- Morrow Lake. Numerous species of er, in Calhoun County, Michigan. wildlife and their habitats, and their re- State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality lated services, were injured as a result of this spill which remains the Nation’s largest inland oil spill. State of Michigan Department of the Attorney General Figure 2. The culvert system at E Drive on Pigeon Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River, prior to restoration of fish passage. Figure 1. Talmadge Creek in August, 2010 Nottawaseppi Huron depicting the on-going cleanup. This aquatic passage project represents Band of the Pottawatomi Tribe the first implemented project from the The Natural Resource Trustees working restoration plan for the 2010 Enbridge to restore the Kalamazoo River following Oil Spill on the Kalamazoo River. Prior the 2010 Enbridge Oil Spill include the to replacement, the stacked five-culvert Michigan Department of Environmental system inhibited the passage of aquatic Quality, Michigan Department of Natu- organisms and did not adequately ac- U.S. ral Resources, and the Michigan Depart commodate seasonal floods associated Department of the Interior of the Attorney General, U.S. Fish & with storm events (Figure 2). Trustees and the public over the next two years. This includes re- placement of an additional under- sized culvert to improve sediment transport in Rice Creek, another tributary to the Kalamazoo River. The Conservation District will also lower a berm along Rice Creek to reconnect the creek to its historic floodplain. This will improve habi- tats in an area of bottomland hard- wood forest, one of the natural re- sources substantially injured as a result of the 2010 Enbridge Kala- mazoo River Oil Spill. Documentation related to the 2010 Enbridge Oil Spill on the Kalama- zoo River, additional information Figure 3. New culvert installation on Pigeon Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan. on the Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan, and the progress The Calhoun Conservation Dis- begin monitoring to compare the of implementation, may be found at trict, led by Director Tracy Bron- fish community above and below https://www.fws.gov/midwest/es/ son and Project Manager Brett the culvert following installation. ec/nrda/MichiganEnbridge/. Riser, directed the replacement of the inadequate structure with a single bottomless culvert (Figures 3 and 4). The Conservation Dis- trict partnered locally with the Calhoun County Road Depart- ment, Civil Engineers, Inc. of Bat- tle Creek, Michigan, and Sebas- tian Trucking and Excavating, Inc. of Springport, Michigan to plan, design, and install the new culvert. To facilitate fish passage and use by other aquatic organisms, the new culvert was designed to use a bottom of natural cobble. To fur- ther improve fish passage, an in- stream rock ramp (Figure 4) was incorporated to dissipate the force Figure 4. Rock ramp structure below the new culvert on Pigeon Creek. of water flowing through the cul- vert. Within a week of comple- In addition to improving habitat, tion, fish were observed moving For more information contact: the new culvert is sized to accom- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the new culvert system. modate seasonal flooding. The Conservation District has East Lansing Field Office 2651 Coolidge Road, Suite 101 already collected several years of The Calhoun Conservation Dis- East Lansing, MI 48823 data to characterize the fish com- trict will implement two addition- 517-351-2555 munities above and below the E al aquatic restoration projects on September 2016 drive crossing. They will now behalf of the Natural Resource .