Evacuations begin after high benzene levels detected near spill site

WEST MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – New information continues to emerge about the oil spill in West Michigan.

There are now mandatory evacuation orders and water advisories being issued by the health department.

Days after the spill, people are being ordered from their homes. The area surrounding the spill site where the digging and investigation into the cause of the spill is taking place is showing a high level of benzene in the air, so about 30 to 50 homes in that area are being evacuated.

The Calhoun County Health Department is also issuing a water advisory to anyone living within 200 feet of the waters that have been touched by the oil. That stretches all the way from Tallmadge Creek into the Kalamazoo River all the way up to the Calhoun County / Kalamazoo County line.

People there are being advised discontinue the use of their residential wells for drinking and cooking. All other household uses are still acceptable at this time.

The Health Department says this is a precautionary measure and no testing has indicated contamination of groundwater.

Air and water quality issues are creating big problems for people living along the river and near the spill site.

The site where the spill began is a very hot and humid environment, the place where the pipe broke is a very swampy, marshy area.

During an afternoon briefing, officials said the oil and benzene are reacting with the environment and fouling the air, creating a very unpleasant smell, and now people will have to leave their homes after facing exposure for days.

“We just got to leave because we can't take the smell,” said Terry Reninger.

Reninger has lived with four days of heavy construction traffic, and four days of the foul odor near the Enbridge spill site.

Now, Reninger is going to have to leave his home, the Calhoun County Health Department says he and dozens of others are no longer safe thanks to the high levels of benzene in the air.

Air quality measurements brought the news that officials feared. For now the evacuation is confined to 30 to 50 homes, but there are areas just outside of the evacuation zone that are still a concern.

Officials say hotels will be paid for, which is good news for Reninger, since he says he has not had enough money to leave.

Officials say bottled water is being handed out at three sites, the Ceresco Baptist Church, the Red Cross in Battle Creek, and the Calhoun County Fairgrounds.

The evacuations due to air quality have already begun.

An emergency shelter has been set up in Marshall for anyone who needs to get away from the smell, something that's even more important with evacuations starting.

Volunteers at the site are offering free meals and a place to stay for anyone displaced by the disaster.

That shelter is at the Marshall Activity Center off West Michigan Avenue.