It is a miracle that the Ambassador Bridge hasn’t collapsed. On September 11, 2001, as the World Trade Center in New York collapsed, many people in Michigan and Ontario worried that the Ambassador Bridge would be targeted next. Destroying that bridge would have been a crippling blow to commerce between Canada and the United States.
On that awful day, the Ambassador Bridge had already been in continuous operation since 1929, without ever closing for sorely needed inspection and repair. Civil engineers don’t recommend letting a bridge like that go a century without being closed for a full year for thorough inspection and maintenance. The six days that it was closed in September 2001 were insufficient.
And now, today, twenty-two years later, the Ambassador Bridge still hasn’t had more than a few days’ down time. All because of the short-sighted greed of the international bridge’s private owners, the Moroun family.
It’s also a miracle that Enbridge’s Line 5 hasn’t ruptured. It’s a much older light crude oil pipeline than pipelines that have already broken. It is a certainty that Line 5 will break.
Enbridge is not to be trusted. The only reason they told us about the 2018 anchor strike is because they wanted to sue the shipping company.
We don’t know when Line 5 will break nor how bad it would be. But it can be bad enough to destroy the Great Lakes, if it breaks under the Mackinac Straits. Most of Line 5’s length is under land. But to get from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, Line 5 goes under the Mackinac Straits, which connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
An oil spill in a small lake that’s walled off from other lakes — like maybe Walled Lake? — would be quite bad enough. But an oil spill under the Mackinac Straits would be devastating. From Lake Huron, the contamination would quickly spread to Lake Superior and Lake St. Clair. And from Lake St. Clair it would get to Lake Erie. [CORRECTION: I was wrong about Lake Superior. But even if the damage was limited to the two lakes connected by the straits, it would still be extremely bad.]
Please look up on your favorite search engine the question “Can Enbridge Line 5 destroy the Great Lakes?” The second sponsored result might be Great Lakes Michigan Jobs dot com. That website also claims that Line 5 “keeps energy affordable across Michigan.”
Enbridge doesn’t give a damn about Michigan jobs and they don’t care all that much about the common man’s energy costs either. Enbridge stock dividends are getting close to paying 90¢ dividends per share. That’s the kind of thing Enbridge cares about.
Also, no one in the Upper Peninsula nor in Canada is going to freeze to death if Line 5 shuts down. A study says prices for propane would go up a full 5¢ per gallon. Too rich for my blood, eh?
And keep in mind that a gallon of propane has been fluctuating between $2 and $4 dollars even with Line 5. So if with Line 5 shut down the price of propane instead fluctuates between $2.05 and $4.05, can we really say it’s because of not having Line 5?
I got that bit about the 5¢ price increase from a page on the Michigan League of Conservation Voters website. That page also has information that makes it quite clear that it’s a miracle Line 5 hasn’t already ruptured under the Great Lakes.
Enbridge has pledged billions of dollars for clean up if Line 5 breaks. But all the money in the world can’t replace the Great Lakes if we lose them. That is something I don’t want to be proven right on. The Enbridge executives can survive a Great Lakes catastrophe, they have the means to flee somewhere far away enough that still has water. I don’t. Do you?
There’s a new documentary premiering soon that explains what’s at stake. I got this e-mail from conservation activists.
Alonso --
Two friends embark on an epic stand-up paddle adventure to discover the grandeur of the Great Lakes and Michigan's water. Troubled Water is a new film that follows two friends on a journey from Mackinac Island to Lansing, through the Great Lakes and up the Grand River.
Oil & Water Don't Mix, and many of our supporters have supported this film from the beginning. You are invited to a gala premiere at the Traverse City Opera House on Friday, September 15. Check out the trailer:
Experience the wonder of Michigan’s abundant natural resources and meet the passionate people dedicated to protecting those resources. Although the Great Lakes face daunting environmental challenges, a community centered on a shared love of water provides hope for the lakes' continued preservation.
The Opera House premiere starts with a reception and cash bar at6:30 PM, with the movie beginning at 7:30 PM. The filmmakers, Chris Yahanda, William Wright, and Davis Huber, will be present for a Q&A.
We can't wait for you to see this film.
Thanks to all the film sponsors:
- Michigan Environmental Council
- FLOW For Love Of Water
- Oil & Water Don’t Mix
- M22
- Mawby Wine
- Cherry Republic
- Oryana
Bill Latka
OWDM Digital Coordinator
Oil & Water Don't Mix
https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/
Tickets are $13 at the door or online. So if you happen to be in Traverse City and don't have other commitments, you should go see the movie. Here’s another movie that’s relevant to this discussion: Mad Max: Fury Road.
To be clear, I think Line 5 needs to be shut down permanently, and the Ambassador Bridge needs to be shut down temporarily. As soon as the Gordie Howe Bridge opens, the Ambassador needs to be shut down for maintenance and repair, and reopened so that it can be a ready backup for the Gordie Howe.
There are plenty of backups for transporting the light crude oil going through Line 5. Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) formed a task force on this topic, you can read their report on the Michigan website.
There’s no backup for the Great Lakes. Once we lose the Great Lakes, there’s no bringing them back.