After a crude oil leak at 18 Mile and Mound, federal regulators order Energy Transfer to check hundreds of pipeline repairs it has no records for

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — A crude oil leak that surfaced in a Sterling Heights gas station parking lot last month has led federal regulators to order pipeline giant Energy Transfer to account for hundreds of old pipeline repairs across the country.

On Sept. 18, a resident reported oil seeping out of the ground and flowing toward a storm drain at a commercial corner near homes, according to the corrective action order issued Sept. 21 by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. ClickOnDetroit reported the site was a gas station near 18 Mile and Mound roads. Energy Transfer estimated the spill at about 15 barrels, roughly 630 gallons.

The city said its public works and fire crews contained the oil and kept it out of city and county storm drains, and that there were no identified impacts to residents.

The leak came from the Marysville-Toledo Crude Pipeline, a 16-inch line that carries crude about 130 miles from Marysville, Mich., to Toledo, Ohio. It was built with pipe made in 1967 using a welding method regulators say is prone to known integrity problems, and about 110 miles of it passes through areas regulators classify as high consequence. Energy Transfer shut a 16-mile section and on Sept. 19 traced the leak to a failed repair sleeve, a steel collar installed over damaged pipe, that ClickOnDetroit reported was put on in 2010.

The company could not find the original repair records for that sleeve or for 11 other sleeves on the same line, the order says. After a similar sleeve failure in Pennsylvania in January 2025, regulators asked for records nationwide, and Energy Transfer could not produce them for hundreds of sleeves on its systems.

Under the order, the 16-mile segment stays shut until PHMSA approves a restart plan, and pressure on the whole line is cut by 20%. Energy Transfer must hire independent experts to test the failed pipe and find the root cause, inventory every steel repair sleeve on its network, and evaluate or remove any it can't verify. The order also says the company's leak detection system did not catch either the Sterling Heights or the Pennsylvania failure.

Sterling Heights said it supports the federal action "to ensure the 130-mile line is structurally sound to avoid the potential for future leaks." Energy Transfer did not respond to ClickOnDetroit's request for comment.

Sources:
U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, “Corrective Action Order, CPF 4-2026-025-CAO, Energy Transfer, LP,” Sept. 21, 2026, https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/42026025CAO/42026025CAO_Corrective%20Action%20Order_09212026_(26-383530)_text.pdf
ClickOnDetroit, “Feds order Energy Transfer to inspect, repair pipelines after Sterling Heights crude oil leak,” Oct. 13, 2026, https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2026/10/14/feds-order-energy-transfer-to-inspect-repair-pipelines-after-sterling-heights-crude-oil-leak/
Michigan Advance, “Michigan spill prompts federal probe of Energy Transfer pipelines' safety,” Oct. 11, 2026, https://michiganadvance.com/2026/10/11/michigan-spill-prompts-federal-probe-of-energy-transfer-pipelines-safety/
Photo: Henrysz, “Petroleum pipeline warning sign.jpg,” Dec. 4, 2021, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Petroleum_pipeline_warning_sign.jpg

Sterling Heights

Tags: Sterling Heights · Pipelines · Energy Transfer · PHMSA · Environment