November wasn’t really Enbridge’s month. And no, we’re not just talking about another poor showing at the Pipeline Safety Trust conference (we’re working on bringing you much more on that!). We’re talking about the news this week that both the MDEQ (go figure!) and the U.S. E.P.A. both gave Enbridge a little business this week.

Following–at long last– that discharge incident from earlier this year– you remember, the one where Enbridge violated 11 different conditions of its permit— the MDEQ is requiring that Enbridge improve its environmental practices (duh!). We can’t say we’re especially impressed with the MDEQ, but at least this is something. Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter Dave Hasemyer, whose work is always first-rate, has the full story over at Inside Climate News. The money quote comes– of course!– from the indefatigable Beth Wallace:

“You shouldn’t have to have someone with a video camera out there discovering these violations in the first place,” Wallace said. “It could have been avoided.”

Wallace said that even with the agreement her group still isn’t confident that Enbridge will carefully monitor its work.

“The company has burned this region and will continue to burn this region,” she said. “The DEQ needs to be more proactive instead of reacting to things when they happen.”

The other bit of bad news for Enbridge is that the E.P.A. has denied its request to extend the December 31st deadline for dredging on the Kalamazoo River. And it’s not just that E.P.A. denied the request: they also called “b.s.” on Enbridge’s reasons for asking. The excellent Lindsey Smith at Michigan Radio has more. And you can read the E.P.A.’s letter here. Here’s the best part:

In particular, U.S. EPA believes that Enbridge has continuously failed to prepare adequate contingency plans for a project of this nature. For example, U.S. EPA acknowledges that failure to obtain a site plan approval for use of the CCP property for a dredge pad was a setback in the timely completion of the work in the Delta. However, Enbridge failed to prepare any contingency plans recognizing the possibility of such an occurrence. Enbridge has known since at least the middle of July 2013 that there was serious opposition to its proposed use of the CCP property. When it became clear in August 2013 that opposition to the site use might delay the project, U.S. EPA directed Enbridge to “conduct a more detailed review of your options in short order.” Although your letter claims that Enbridge “has considered such alternatives,” your logs indicate that Enbridge did not hold initial discussions with the majority of these property owners until long after the final decision to abandon plans for use of the CCP property.

Ouch!

Finally– though this one (unlike the others) really is just an accident– the Free Press is reporting this week that Enbridge crews dropped a tree on a power line over in the Marysville area last Wednesday– evidently ruining more than a few people’s Thanksgiving dinners– although evidently they picked up the tab for about 50 at a restaurant. They’ll also pay for damages.