Law firm does its part to help clean up Kalamazoo River

Responding to requests for donations, Brian Considine, an attorney with Dawda Mann's Environment, Energy and Sustainability practice group, delivered a van load of supplies to a nonprofit relief organization that is assisting with the cleanup of wildlife impacted by the oil pipeline spill. The supplies included towels, sheets, blankets, rubber gloves, dishwashing detergents, vegetable oil, tyvek suits, garbage bags, water and energy bars. These items were collected and donated in a group effort that was coordinated by Dawda Mann, AKT Peerless and Albion College . "The members of our environmental practice group are familiar with the impacts that crude oil has on natural resources when released in massive quantities like the spill near Marshall ," Considine said. "We appreciated the local communities' requests for assistance and wanted to help out." An Enbridge Energy Partners pipeline ruptured on July 26, releasing more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River and other southern Michigan waterways. After dropping off the supplies, Considine experienced first-hand the devastation that the oil spill has had on the area. "As soon as I opened the door of my car I was hit with a very strong odor of oil in the air. I can imagine the stress this has put on the residents near the river," Considine said after visiting a stretch of the river a few miles downstream from the spill. "The banks of the river were coated with the thick tarry oil and there was a prominent visible sheen of oil on the surface of the water." A congressional committee has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to determine whether Enbridge forced residents to sign forms preventing them from suing in exchange for air conditioners and hotel expenses in the wake of this summer's oil spill in Michigan. Several wildlife rescue groups are still accepting donations. Information can be obtained online. Published: Tue, Sep 7, 2010

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