MARSHALL,Mich. — Several people have gathered at a Enbridge pipeline facility to protest the efforts to build a pipeline through an area near the site of an oil spill nearly three years ago.
One of the protesters, Chris Whamhoff, climbed into a replacement pipeline that is under construction on Monday just before 7 a.m. Police say the man rolled into the pipeline on his stomach on a skateboard. The pipeline is a 5-mile long new section that is being built to replace an existing line. Police have talked to the man inside and are pumping fresh air into the pipe to keep him cool and for fresh air.
The original plan was to keep up the protest for three days. However, at 5 p.m., Whamhoff came out after 10 hours inside the pipeline.
He was treated at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital.
It has been nearly three years since Enbridge’s oil pipeline burst, spilling more than 840,000 gallons of oil into the environment with thousands of that going into the Kalamazoo River and other waterways.
Calhoun County Sheriff, Matt Saxton, told FOX 17 that he talked with the county prosecutor and that they are discussing the charges Whamhoff could face. He even said that he’s had a conversation with the FBI, and that federal charges could be filed.
