COMSTOCK/GALESBURG, MICH.– Faced with disputed claims from the EPA, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and aides to Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Messenger has been visiting sites along the Kalamazoo River between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, particularly around Morrow Lake, to determine exactly how far to the west the oil has reached to this point.

Morrow Lake is a widening of the Kalamazoo River about two-thirds of the way to Kalamazoo from Battle Creek, located in Comstock. Galesburg is a small town just to the east of Comstock and Lake Morrow along the Kalamazoo river. Cleanup officials have expressed the hope that they could stop the oil before it reaches the west end of the lake, where the Morrow Dam spills into the river.

Lake Morrow, with Morrow dam in the distance.

Michigan Messenger has seen no evidence of oil or oil sheen — a light coating of oil on the surface of the water which creates a swirl of rainbow — at either Morrow Lake proper, or River Oaks Park in Galesburg, where crews have dispatched booms across the point where the Kalamazoo River enters Morrow Lake.

This observation supports a statement made by the EPA earlier Thursday. A top EPA official, Susan Hedman, said during a 3 p.m. news conference that she had just completed a fly over the lake and did not see any sheen from the oil.

Granholm’s office released this photo taken in a fly over yesterday. Her office says the photo shows oil sheen.

Clean up workers lay absorbent booms at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, just before Lake Morrow starts.

At River Oaks, a crew of about 20 men were busy stringing up absorbent boom along floating plastic booms in preparation for any oil which might reach the point of the boom. There was no evidence of oil covered absorbent boom in the dumpsters on site. Two vacuum trucks and two skimmers were on site, as well as two additional oil tankers. The oil tankers are in place so that vacuum trucks can empty oil they suck up and return for more service.

The tankers are parked on plastic with a boundary of absorbent boom surrounding them. This is so that in the event any oil which is recovered by the vacuum trucks spills during transfer, there is not threat to the environment.

This is a map of the area so you can see where these sites are in relation to one another. Battle Creek lies about 10-15 miles to the east of here, Kalamazoo lies about 10 miles to the west of here. And below is video of Lake Morrow taken just a couple of hours ago: