While working on upgrades to a residence on Mingo Trail in Indian River, a third party contractor struck Line 5 of the Enbridge Energy Company's pipeline late Tuesday night, prompting the Enbridge Control Center to dispatch pipeline maintenance personnel to the scene to shut down the line Wednesday morning after detecting a loss of pressure. At the same time, a call to the Charlevoix-Cheboygan-Emmet County Central Dispatch Authority from a visiting tourist in Indian River about the smell of gasoline in the water at Indian River Marina, sent local law enforcement patrol officers to the scene, reporting oil in the water was moving downstream. Local fire departments were dispatched to investigate an odor in multiple locations.

The scenarios were part of a full-scale training exercise held by Enbridge and multiple local, state, and federal agencies on Wednesday in Indian River to assess the company's emergency plans in case of an actual oil leak in the Indian River. Agencies taking part along with Enbridge included the United States Coast Guard, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Charlevoix-Cheboygan-Emmet County Emergency Management Office, the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Pollution Control and The Response Group — all working together to prepare if the situation ever occurred.

An incident command center was established, facilitating communication between the agencies, while Enbridge equipment in the area was brought in to contain and clean up the simulated spill. Directional booms, large floating devices, were set up in strategic areas, directing and containing the spill to areas where a floating device called a skimmer could collect the oil and a truck with a large vacuum could remove it from the water.