Kalamazoo Oil Spill

Written by: Izzy Bellville
                Only a little over three months after the catastrophic BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Mid-Michigan experienced a quite similar type of disaster.

                An Enbridge Incorporation pipe in Marshall carrying oil ruptured between July 25^th and July 26^th, eventually spilling over 800,000 gallons of oil into the Kalmazoo river.

                This brought an immediate danger to the surrounding wildlife, endangering all the animals in the area around the river. In the BP spill, there were thousands of volunteers from all over the country, and why not? As monstrous spill as it was, it was expected that animal lovers from everywhere would contribute to the cleanup process. But could we possibly expect the same for a Mid-Michigan setting?

                Whether or not people thought it could be expected, it happened. People from all over Mid-Michigan showed up to help take care of the animals caught in the disaster. One of these animal saviors was our very own Ms. Louise Sagaert.

                Ms. Sagaert joined the fight the day after the oil had spilled, and helped all the way into mid August. Ms. Sagaert runs her own wildlife rehab at her home, so taking a position in wildlife intake was second nature for her. She spent her time in large, hot suits that protected her from the oil on the animals, washing geese, muskrats and even small turtles with large, powerful hoses that powered away the oil from the animals.

Ms. Sagaert said that she was “the only one who would wash the muskrats, because they were very violent. Look, I even have a bite mark on me still.”

                The animal rescue took place in an old pole barn, which doesn’t seem like the best place to save animals, but the rescuers did their best to make it as effective as possible. The first few days of work were actually spent putting walls up in the barn to make a better working environment.

                In the washing of the animals, it could be supposed that it would be a quick and easy process. But in fact, it is a very complicated and tedious procedure. For example, you cannot use just any soap to clean the animals. You have to use Dawn brand soap and Eve soap, then you have to use certain colors of the soap in order to keep the animals safe. The cleaning of the animal could take as long as ninety minutes, and sometimes even more. When cleaning a turtle, especially the small ones, you had to use the utmost care, because you would have to reach into the shell, and pull out the limbs and head of the turtle to clean them. “You had to be very careful not to squish their little heads.” Ms. Sagaert only half joked.

                Undoubtedly, hard feelings must have been felt towards Enbridge Incorporation because of their mistake. Although, according to Ms. Sagaert, “I never had a bad experience with any of the people from Enbridge. They were very willing to help solve the problem they created. They spent every dollar that was needed without question.”

                Ms. Sagaert, as well as the rest of the animal rescuers deserve nothing less than the utmost respect, for the work they did to save all the wildlife that they did over the summer. With the work that the volunteers preformed proved that good people do still exist, and are walking amongst us.