Michigan officials say they will ban heavy crude oil from being transported along a controversial pipeline running beneath the scenic waterway where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet.
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The Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force, headed by Bill Schuette and Dan Wyant has issued a list of demands including full insurance coverage liability, and an assessment of options for the pipeline.
Enbridge Energy says only light crude now runs through the pipes beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
Michigan officials also recommend requiring an independent analysis of alternatives to the pipelines, and ensuring Enbridge has adequate liability coverage in the case of a “worst-case scenario spill”. They fear a spill similar to one from another Enbridge pipeline that severely polluted the Kalamazoo River in 2010. But Line 5 also is useful, he said, because it lessens the need for tankers, trucks and rail cars to transport light oils and petroleum products.
“The task force recommendations amount to a rearranging of deck chairs on Michigan’s Titanic of oil pipelines”, he said.
“Certainly, the Straits Pipelines would not be built today, so how many more tomorrows Line 5 should operate is limited in duration”, Schuette said in a statement.
Holtz said the line needs to be shut down completely and welcomes a public a transparent process of examining alternatives to the Enbridge pipelines.
Yesterday, the task force released a report detailing recommendations for improving the safety and monitoring of pipelines in Michigan.
The Sierra Club said while the recommendations might offer “eventual relief”, the Great Lakes and northern Michigan tourism remain “unacceptably vulnerable to a catastrophic pipeline rupture”.
The 80-page report follows a year of inquiry into the status and potential environmental impacts from the aging Straits pipeline and others crossing the state.
In addition to the Michigan Department of Attorney General and the Department of Environmental Quality, the task force includes the Michigan Public Service Commission, Department of Natural Resources, DEQ’s Office of the Great Lakes, Michigan Department of Transportation and Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division. Popular with tourists, the straits area features the Mackinac Bridge linking Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas and a resort island.
Ensure regular state consultation with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on hazardous liquid (including petroleum) pipelines. The task force, citing “gaps” in information from Enbridge, urged an evaluation of whether Michigan should take over regulation of intrastate pipelines.
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“It’s not just about the straits”, Wyant said.
