UPDATE: Protestor facing charges



MARSHALL, MI – A Kalamazoo man is celebrating his 35th birthday inside an empty oil pipe to protest Enbridge Inc. replacing five miles of crude oil pipeline in Marshall on Monday.

Chris Wahmhoff, an Occupy Kalamazoo organizer who has purposely lodged himself into an Enbridge Inc. crude-oil pipe that is under construction, told police he plans to stay there until 5 p.m., said Calhoun County Sheriff Matt Saxton.

“We’re talking with him,” Saxton said. “We can’t see him and we’re concerned we’re going to go chase him in further in if we go in so we’re in negotiation. He told us that he will come out at 5 p.m. I’d be more concerned if he goes further in the pipeline.”

Saxton said his crews will continue to cooperate with the 35-year-old man, who has identified himself in statements as Wahmhoff, until 5 p.m. If Wahmhoff does not come out of the pipe at that time, Saxton said authorities will take necessary action to remove him from the pipe.

He estimates Wahmhoff is 40 to 100 feet deep inside the pipe with a skateboard.

Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Enbridge Inc. pipeline pump station, located at 16 Mile Road and Division Drive in Fredonia, at about 7:30 a.m. on Monday after receiving reports of three trespassers on Enbridge's property.

The other trespassers left the scene when asked, but Wahmhoff entered the new pipeline, which is not in service, and has refused to come out, Saxton said.

Rescue crews were initially concerned about the amount of carbon dioxide and lack of oxygen inside the pipe and have been fanning fresh air into the pipe. Saxton said Wahmhoff has agreed to leave the pipeline if he begins to feel faint.

“We have never had someone crawl into Enbridge’s pipeline.” Saxton said. “The subject has shut down all work on the property, which is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars for a day's work. There are people who are protesting here and we’re allowing that. We’re not doing anything to stop that but when you criminally trespass and put yourself in harm’s way – but also first responders and employees of Enbridge in harm’s way – that’s not a good thing to do.”

Wahmhoff is protesting with a group calls MI CATS, an acronym for Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands, which demands Enbridge remove the pipeline, the source of the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill.

The group issued a statement on Monday reading “MiCATS put our bodies directly in the path of a destructive course of development. We crawled onto the construction site and stood in defiance against the insidious business practices of Enbridge

Energy.”

The group is against Enbridge replacing a 280-mile crude oil 6B pipeline, which burst in 2010, that transports crude oil between Griffith, Indiana, through Michigan to Ontario.

The replacement pipe will allow the company to double the amount of material transported from 250,000 barrels per day to 500,000 barrels per day by spring 2014, according to Jason Manshum, an Enbridge spokesperson.

“Pipelines spill because of the consistency of what’s being pumped through them. Many people have died from the tar sands,” said Jessica Clark, a Kalamazoo-based MI-CATS member who was protesting outside the site on Monday. “We’re doing this for people who are experiencing environmental classism and racism. We don’t want other communities to become sacrificed zones like Marshall, because of the spill.”

Monday also marks Wahmhoff’s birthday. He said his "birthday wish is help for my community from the people, not the politicians, corporations, and large NGO's who want money for themselves," in a statement.

Manshum said Wahmhoff is inside part of the new replacement pipeline and could not estimate how much the delays would cost the company. The company is in the process of attaching the new pipeline with the existing pipe, but has not yet passed inspections.

This week the company plans to begin hydro-testing the new pipeline by applying high pressure water through the new line.

The five-mile pipeline stretch in Marshall is part of 75 nonconsecutive miles that are being addressed in the first phase of Enbridge’s replacement project. By the end of the second phase, the entire pipeline will be replaced, he said.

Various inspections identified sections of the pipelines that would require routine maintenance in the future, placing priority on the Marshall pipe line portion, along with other portions.

Manshum said the Marshall project should be completed within the coming weeks. Once the company begins flowing crude oil through the new pipe, which Wahmhoff is occupying, the existing pipeline in Marshall will be deactivated.

Manshum said the deactivation process for the existing pipeline consists of cleaning, purging any remaining product of crude oil and capping its two ends. The line is then filled with nitrogen and gas to maintain pressure to help control corrosive issues and is left in place, he said.

“Our No.1 goal is not operation, it’s in fact to make sure this individual gets out of the pipeline quickly,” Manshum said. “That’s why we are collaborating to make sure we get him out safely.”

Saxton said the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Marshall’s Police Department, Fredonia Township Fire Department, Marshall Fire Department, and Michigan State Police.

Saxton said Wahmhoff could be charged arrested and charged a misdemeanor for criminally trespassing, He said the other trespassers have not been charged.

“He does not appear to be damaging anything,” Saxton said. “We are making sure he’s alright health-wise.”

Contact Ursula Zerilli at uzerilli@mlive.com or 269-254-5295. Follow her on twitter.