MARSHALL, MICHIGAN -- (Marketwire) -- 09/08/10 -- Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EEP)
Patrick Daniel, President & CEO, Enbridge Inc.
We continue to make steady progress in our clean-up efforts as we move towards our September 27th target date for completion of primary clean-up.
Site A, the leak site, is now restored and seeded and we are awaiting final sign-off from the EPA.
As well, shoreline restoration efforts are underway along Talmadge Creek as we begin now to backfill and contour the shoreline, which is really a very significant step towards returning it to its pre-spill condition. Those initiatives, of course, are subject to the further evaluations mentioned on the call earlier by the EPA.
Also as mentioned by EPA we have over 1,500 people employed directly on the clean-up, more than 500 of whom are Michigan residents.
Today we've made numerous payments in respect of claims related to the spill and we're working towards resolution of all outstanding claims.
We have also purchased four homes and we're in the final stages of purchase of approximately a dozen more. There are roughly 50 homes that are being appraised at this point in time and at that point homeowners will decide whether they want to proceed with our home buyout alternative.
Visits to our community centers and calls to our call center have steadily tapered off although both remain open from eight a.m. to eight p.m. for residents with questions or claims.
We've worked very hard to develop a claims process that's fair, that is accessible, that is reasonable and is efficient. We have been and we'll continue to be fair and forthright in our administration of the claims program.
To help ensure that we achieve our objectives of serving and protecting the best interests of those residents affected by the oil spill I'm very pleased to announce today that we've appointed Dennis Archer as Special Counsel with respect to the claims and settlement process.
Mr. Archer will be well known to the people of Michigan. He served as the Mayor of Detroit from 1994 to 2001. He's a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan and former President of the American Bar Association.
We've asked him to review the claims process and, if required, recommend ways to improve that process. And as committed from the outset, Enbridge will honor all non-fraudulent claims resulting from the spill, and people do not have to sue Enbridge.
I'm going to conclude with a very brief operational update. As we reported last week Enbridge submitted all remaining information to the Office of Pipeline Safety including the results of our integrity digs and the hydro test in connection with the re-start process for Line 6B. As you know, we had requested approval to resume service at lower-than-normal operating pressures based on all of the actions taken with the completion of the number of the pipeline integrity inspections tests and analysis.
Biography of Dennis Wayne Archer, Chairman and CEO, Dennis W. Archer PLLC
Dennis W. Archer is Chairman and CEO of Dennis W. Archer PLLC and Chairman Emeritus of Dickinson Wright PLLC, a Detroit-based law firm with more than 270 attorneys, with five offices in Michigan; an office in Toronto, Canada; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, Nevada. He sits on the corporate boards of Johnson Controls Inc., Compuware Corporation and Masco Corporation.
Archer served two four-year terms as mayor of the city of Detroit (1994-2001) and earned national and international respect for his success in changing Detroit's image and direction.
In 2000, Mayor Archer was named Public Official of the Year by Governing magazine. Archer served on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was president of the National League of Cities from 2000-2001. He received an Award of Excellence and was named 1998 Newsmaker of the Year by Engineering News-Record magazine, a sister publication of Business Week. He has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine; and one of the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in the United States by the National Law Journal. Archer was named one of the 25 Most Dynamic Mayors in America by Newsweek magazine.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Western Michigan University and taught learning disabled students in the Detroit Public Schools.
Archer earned his Juris Doctor from Detroit College of Law in 1970. He began practicing law thereafter, working as a trial lawyer and a partner in several Detroit firms, serving as associate professor of the Detroit College of Law and adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School.
In 1985, Governor James Blanchard appointed Archer an Associate Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was elected to an eight-year term the following year. In his final year on the bench in 1990, Archer was named the most respected judge in Michigan by Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Archer has long been active in the organized bar. He was the first person of color elected president of the American Bar Association (2003-2004) as well as the State Bar of Michigan. He has also served as president of the Wolverine Bar Association and the National Bar Association. Archer is a Life Member of the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation and the National Bar Association, a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers, a Fellow of the College of Law Office Management and Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Archer is married to Trudy DunCombe Archer, retired Judge of Michigan's 36th District Court. They have two sons, Dennis W. Archer, Jr. and Vincent DunCombe Archer, and two grandsons.
Enbridge has launched a website to provide updates and further information about the Company's response to the leak on the 6B pipeline near Marshall, Michigan. The URL for the website is response.enbridgeus.com.
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Vern Yu
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