This weekend marks the 5-year anniversary of the Enbridge pipeline rupture in Marshall; one of the largest inland oil spills ever in the country.
More than 800,000 gallons of oil spilled into almost 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River.
Five years later, Newschannel 3 took a look at the timeline of the cleanup effort.
At this point, there are few visible signs left of what was called at the time an environmental disaster.
The first sign something was wrong on July 25, 2010, was the overpowering smell for people who lived near the Talmadge Creek in Marshall.
Calls started coming in to 9-1-1 from people reporting an odor of gas.
Enbridge would eventually discover a six foot gash in its Pipeline 6B had spilled more than 800,000 gallons of crude tar sands oil before it was shut off.
"This is really, really sad, this is not, this is nasty," said Dana Allen, who lives on the river.
On July 29th, dozens of people in the area were evacuated from their homes in Marshall. Oil had traveled all the way to the Morrow Dam in Comstock.
By July 11, 2011--nearly a year later--the EPA says more than 90 percent of the spilled oil has been removed from the Kalamazoo River, but says there are some areas that need more attention where oil has sunk to the bottom of the river.
In June of 2012, almost all of the Kalamazoo River was re-opened to the public.
"The lessons we learned on the Kalamazoo River have made us a better, safer company. We will not forget the Marshall incident. In fact, within our company, we have memorialized it – to guide our decisions, and strengthen our resolve to make certain that such an event never happens again."
Enbrige Spokesman Jason Manshum
MARSHALL, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) -