Oil on Riverside Golf Course
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The oil is having an impact on area businesses especially with the water advisory in effect.
Nobody who works at Riverside Country Club ever thought it would mean they have a bulls eye on their back when it came to oil.
"For this course to have this kind of problem you just wouldn't expect that, said Paul Hawkins Club Pro.
But now that oasis can't be watered since the water comes from the now oily Kalamazoo River.
"It would be devastating to nearly a 100 acres of turf that I water so it's not a good situation for us," said Ryan Frost Grounds Superintendent.
The oil is already having an impact, geese are tracking it on the course, and club personnel fear it could get into their pond, which taps the river for irrigation.
The water advisory for people near the river means the course's main irrigation source is gone, and spraying the course with oily water could destroy it.
"It's very frustrating to know that you have no control over. That we're at their mercy and it's pretty big investment to take a risk of watering. It's been a tough summer to begin with but now we're dealing with this oil and it's just a tragedy," said Frost.
For 50 years, it's been a course of pristine greens, lush fairways, and leafy rough. Riverside Country Club is an oasis of Battle Creek.
"It means a lot to the community to the members to play here, this is home," said Hawkins.
Until this week, the grounds crew were having trouble keeping up with the grass.
All the rain has kept things green and growing. If thousands of dollars in damage is done, the finger will be pointed straight at Enbridge.
"I totally think they should be liable," said Frost.
"We're watching the gulf disaster down in LA and curling around to Florida, you can't even imagine what those people are going through, and then all of a sudden we have a spill in our own backyard, I didn't even know that was truly a possibility," said Hawkins.
The head groundskeeper says he's not sure when he'll get cleared to water the course again.
