By Eric Stock

DULUTH, Minn. – A Canadian energy company is continuing its work in Central Illinois where a 167-mile pipeline has been in operation since late last year.

Last December, Enbridge opened the Southern Access Extension, a 24-inch pipeline that pumps an average of 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day from its terminal near Pontiac to Patoka in Southern Illinois.

Stakeholder relations manager Jennifer Smith said Enbridge is still working to restore some of the property that was disrupted by the pipeline installation last year.

“We were able to do some restoration last year before winter hit, but restoration crews are back out there now,” Smith said. “We want to make sure we are leaving the land as good if not better than how we found it.”

The Southern Access Extension includes more than 700 parcels of land, including 130 in McLean County.

The pipeline was nearly a decade in the making. Hundreds of landowners fought the project, but Enbridge was granted eminent domain in the courts. Landowners are getting some cost recovery for crop losses and property damages.

“We will be monitoring (the pipeline) and working with the landowners for years to come,” Smith said.

Enbridge recently agreed to a settlement a $176 million settlement over an oil spill in southwest Michigan, making it the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history. Some of the money is intended to prevent future oil spills.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].