Many people recognize the beautiful suspension bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, crossing the narrow straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Relatively few people in comparison know of the dangerous twin pipelines that cover the same route across the Straits of Mackinac, only hidden from view, 120 feet down. Enbridge’s Line 5 carries oil and natural gas liquids at high pressure — about a million gallons per hour — over the bottomlands of the straits.
Environmental activists have sounded the alarm about this pipeline for years. The damn thing is more than ten years beyond its original expected time in service: its coating is corroded in dozens of areas; its supports across the 4.5 miles are bent and worn. Still, it’s a struggle, as you might imagine, to get a lot of people to care deeply about this risk of possible catastrophic harm when so many other, seemingly more immediate hazards need to be addressed. All the same, one simple tear in one of the 40+ corroded areas on the pipeline would change the ecology, the economy, and (if you’ll allow me) the soul of this precious region forever.
If you’ve ever been to the northern shores of Lake Michigan, whether in Michigan near Petoskey or Northport or Escanaba, or in Wisconsin along Door County, or on Mackinac Island, which is effectively right on top of Line 5, you’ll know just how beautiful this area is. (Lake Huron, east of the straits, has its own virtues; I just haven’t visited there as much.) Here are a couple of photos I took a few years back during a camping trip in the area, one of my favorite places in the world.
Then think about the ecological catastrophe that would result from a pipeline rupture at the bottom of the Straits. Cleanup even in good weather would be massive, ugly, and difficult, in part because of the complex currents in the Straits. Cleanup in bad weather, when the winds and waves are high — or when the ice is many feet deep — would be incalculably worse.
I’ll refer you to my post of last week for facts, facts, and more facts. You can read there about the economic utility of the pipeline compared to the economic impact of a spill. I provide links to sources discussing the ongoing and obvious arrogance of Enbridge in resisting accountability and transparency in their inspection and maintenance. (This Enbridge, by the way, is the same company responsible for the disastrous pipeline rupture into the Kalamazoo River in 2010, still the worst freshwater spill in U.S. history, the cleanup for which totaled more than $1 Billion.) There are some links as well to coverage of the pathetic response of the state of Michigan to its citizens, though here I’ll report briefly on the newest development.
At the public hearing about Line 5 that took place on Monday in Lansing, public opposition to the bad, backroom deal that Governor Rick Snyder signed with Enbridge two weeks ago was even more vehement than expected. As MLive reported,
Criticism of Gov. Rick Snyder's deal to make Enbridge shut down its controversial Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac during high waves didn't just come from the public at the state's Dec. 11 pipeline board meeting.
It also came from the board itself.
The Pipeline Safety Advisory Board rebuked the governor with formal resolutions asking for deal revisions, a new analysis of pipeline alternatives and a shutdown order until damage to the dual pipeline's protective coating can be repaired.
But in the end data alone do not suffice. What matters: the political will and the political power to force change. How we exert that will is actually up to us.
We have a relatively simple way to speak up. Between now and Tuesday, December 19, public comments are being accepted on the proposal regarding alternatives to Line 5. You can find that proposal here, which is the same page that provides the link to the comments. (When you open that page, look for the two links below the picture of the “Mighty Mac,” the Mackinac Bridge.)
It’s not necessary to have a scientific background to comment. It’s not necessary for you to be a Michigan resident to comment. It’s not necessary for you to write at length. It would be a public service, however, for you to take five minutes to open that link and enter your own request to shut.it.down.
LINK TO PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ENBRIDGE’S LINE 5
(scroll to see the link under the Mighty Mac photo)
Or, if you prefer to mail yours:
Department of Environmental Quality,
Attn: Line 5 Alternatives Analysis,
P.O. Box 30473,
Lansing, MI 48909-7973.
COMMENTS ARE OPEN UNTIL TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017.
It’s full-on winter now in Michigan. Right now, the air temperature in St. Ignace is in the single digits Fahrenheit. Ice is just starting to form in the northern shallows of Lake Huron near the Straits. If the cold continues, we can have complete ice cover of this area by mid-February. The dual pipelines carrying a million gallons an hour underneath the Straits can break at any point between now and never. But the time to speak up in opposition to that grave and unjustifiable risk is now.