MARSHALL (WKZO) -- The first birds to be rescued after the oil spill near Marshall have now been released back into the wild at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. DNRE Spokesperson Mary Detloff says they have all been banded and micro chipped so they can be tracked in the future. The 19 geese and ducks went thru an extended rehabilitation process. They also released another group of turtles.
Some of the humans displaced by the oil spill could also be going home later this week. The County Health Department says air quality tests continue to improve and it should be safe soon.
The EPA is no longer saying the clean up on the Kalamazoo River in Calhoun County is in its emergency phase. They are now calling it a recovery and remediation effort. The EPA’s Susan Hedman says there no longer is a fear of the oil getting all the way to Lake Michigan, in fact they think they can keep Morrow Lake free of any sheen whatsoever… but that won’t be true upstream.
She says now comes the hard part, finishing the removal of oil from the banks and plants along the river. That will involve a lot of pumping, a lot of soil removal and a lot of patience.
