Enbridge cleaning up spill at oil sands terminal

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc, Canada's No. 2 pipeline firm, said a malfunctioning valve at an oil storage facility in the oil sands region of northern Alberta this week spewed out 4,000 barrels of oil, but the spill was mostly contained on the grounds of its tank farm.

The company, whose pipelines carry the lion's share of oil sands crude to U.S. markets, said the spill occurred on Saturday at its Cheecham terminal south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, when a small fitting on a valve failed.

"It was primarily contained," said Gina Jordan. "A small amount was outside the terminal but the majority of the leak was contained."

Enbridge said the spill had not cut shipments on its pipelines from the oil sands.

Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema, whose group publicized the spill, said he considered the incident another blow to the environmental track record for the oil sands and called for increased regulatory scrutiny of activity in the region, which has the biggest reserves outside the Middle East.

(Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)