Young Tribal Members Challenge Oil Companies in Court Action

Young Tribal Members from Northern Michigan filed a “exclusion and removal” Complaint in the  Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Tribal Court.  (A copy of that Complaint, with sensitive information removed, is attached).

While the world is quite reasonably concerned with the global coronavirus pandemic, young Tribal members took this action as their contribution to the world’s 50th Earth Day global activities, calling attention to the Climate Crisis that the world is also facing.

The entire Press Release can be read here —ST Complaint Press Release

The Complaint can be read here —Complaint-STC-sensitive data removed

What divides us ... is Enbridge

Pat Egan, Retired Publisher, Chair - Chapter Finance comm

If you look at a map of the pipe called Line 5 crossing the Upper Peninsula, you see that it clearly splits the peninsula in two. The Canadian company that owns and profits by that pipeline has done an expensive and successful campaign to divide the peninsula’s neighbors in two as well. We are fighting over this pipeline, and it is an Enbridge Inc.-sponsored fight.

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State Should Yank Enbridge’s Permits in the Straits of Mackinac

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Contact: David Holtz, david@davidholtz.org, 313-300-4454

State Should Yank Enbridge’s Permits

in the Straits of Mackinac Following

Lengthy Delay In Disclosing Equipment

Failure and Marine Debris

State Must Independently Inspect Line 5 Oil Pipeline For Damage 

Citizens groups today called on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration to withdraw Enbridge’s state permits and put a halt on future activity in the Straits of Mackinac in the wake of the Canadian oil transport company’s failure to disclose for two months the collapse of equipment during a mechanical failure.  

Groups with the Oil & Water Don’t Mix coalition also said the state must independently inspect Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipelines to determine whether marine debris from the collapse damaged the controversial oil pipelines at the bottom of the Straits.  Enbridge claims it did not. 

“Enbridge lies and Enbridge’s pattern and practice of hiding Line 5 oil spills, Line 5 damage and Line 5 corrosion must stop today,” said Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don’t Mix Coordinator.  “Enbridge thinks it is above the law and can simply apologize for violating the state’s rules and then move on as if nothing happened.  The state should put a halt to all Enbridge activities in the Straits until there is an independent evaluation by the state of any damage or the potential for future damage resulting from Enbridge failures.”

“Enbridge’s unlawful behavior was tolerated by the previous administration,” said McBrearty.  “We have seen that a failure of law enforcement simply encourages more of the same flaunting of environmental rules by Enbridge meant to protect the Great Lakes. Gov. Whitmer must prioritize protecting the Great Lakes and to do that she cannot just allow business as usual from Enbridge.”

Published reports say a 40-feet long piece of three-inch drill rod became lodged beneath the lakebed during boring operations, and another 45-feet long piece of equipment fell on top of the lakebed on Sept. 12.  Enbridge didn’t report the incident to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy until Nov. 19. Enbridge claims it can’t remove the debris until next spring. While they say their boring work is complete, their permit from the state won’t expire until 2024 unless the state withdraws it sooner. 

Over the past five years Enbridge has violated its easement agreement with the state by failing to disclose pipeline damage, corrosion and numerous missing pipeline support structures.  In 2016 it was disclosed that Enbridge kept an Upper Peninsula oil spill hidden for 30 years, including the excavation of 825 tons of contaminated soil from the Hiawatha National Forest. 

“The state has a public trust duty to protect the Great Lakes and we expect state officials to demonstrate responsibility for doing so,” said McBrearty.  “State environmental officials should immediately pull Enbridge’s permit and independently inspect Line 5 for possible damage and then send Enbridge the bill.”

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Oil & Water Don’t Mix is a broad campaign of organizations, citizens and businesses across Michigan who are working to keep oil out of our Great Lakes by shutting down the dangerous Line 5 Pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The campaign fights for clean water and air, Indigenous rights, reducing pollution, sustainable economies and protecting sporting, tourism, and jobs that are dependent on our water and Pure Michigan way of life.  Learn more at www.oilandwaterdontmix.org.

URGE GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE NO ON THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION ON THE ENBRIDGE LINE 5 TUNNEL

ACT: GT COMMISSION MEETS THIS WED., AUG. 7, AT 8 AM AT 400 BOARDMAN, TRAVERSE CITY The Grand Traverse County Commission has a resolution in front of it that is expected to be voted on THIS WEDNESDAY, that calls for support of Enbridge's Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.   Please contact your County Commissioners TODAY to urge her or him to VOTE NO ON THE ENBRIDGE TUNNEL RESOLUTION.  Betsy Coffia email bcoffia@grandtraverse.org or 231-714-9598 Ron Clous, vice chair, email rclous@grandtraverse.org or 231-590-3316  Rob Hentschel, chair, email rhentschel@grandtraverse.org  or 231-946-4277  Bryce Hundley email bhundley@grandtraverse.org or 231-753-8602  Sonny Wheelock email swheelock@grandtraverse.org or 231-947-3277 Gordie LaPointe email glapointe@grandtraverse.org or 231-409-2607 Brad Jewett email bjewett@grandtraverse.org  or 231-633-9421  DON'T LET ENBRIDGE FOOL THE COUNTY COMMISSION! The proposed resolution offered by Commissioner Brad Jewett is totally off base - here are the facts: keeping the 66-year-old, dented, deteriorating Line 5 oil pipeline in place for a decade or more while a proposed tunnel is built leaves up to 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline vulnerable to an unparalleled disaster from a break in the pipelines. Michigan has already been the home of the worst inland oil spill in our nation's history, why let a Canadian oil pipeline company continue to threaten our precious water and economy? Line 5 is 645-miles-long, running from Superior, WI, to Sarnia, ONT, crossing more that 400 waterways, and paralleling the north shore of Lake Michigan for many miles. A tunnel would keep the rest of this dangerous 66-year-old pipeline in place for many more decades. 90 to 95% of the oil in Line 5 goes from Canada to Canada, and does nothing for Michigan except use our state as a shortcut. Propane supplies to the U.P. can be replaced readily according to studies done for the state. And to fight climate change, which is harming our state already, we need to reduce fossil fuels, not make it easy for them to continue to be extracted, transported, processed and burned.  The Bad River Band in Wisconsin is suing to shut down Line 5 where it crosses their reservation after Enbridge's easement expired. Michigan's 12 tribes are all calling for a shutdown of Line 5. Grand Traverse County needs to stand in solidarity with native people whose treaty rights and dependence on natural resources are at risk from Enbridge's pipeline.  Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking out for the people of Michigan and the Great Lakes region by suing to shut down Line 5 across the Straits - Enbridge is only looking out for its pocketbook and using millions of dollars to put pressure on to stop AG Nessel from protecting us.  Find out more about how you can help the fight to shut down Enbridge Line 5 here or contact Christy McGillivray at christy.mcgillivray@sierraclub.org.

Photos and video of anchor-strike damage to Line 5 released

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  The east Line 5 oil pipeline, which was struck by an anchor last April.

  U.S. SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MICH.)

Newly released images from Enbridge Energy show damage sustained to the Line 5 oil pipelines from an anchor strike last April.

The video and photos given to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation show a gash across the east pipeline, and several dents and scrapes on the west pipeline. In written testimony Enbridge identifies three dents on the pipelines caused by the anchor strike, the longest was more than 23 inches.

More ...

Line 5’s environmental calamities started when it was built

Jeffrey Insko is an Associate Professor of English at Oakland University. He is currently writing a book titled Untimely Infrastructure: The 2010 Marshall, Michigan Oil Spill in the Human Epoch

Bridge Magazine

After all, more recent organizers tend to locate the movement’s origins in 2012, when the National Wildlife Federation released its widely circulated Sunken Hazard report, with its shocking tale of imminent disaster and its vivid, frequently reprinted underwater images of the current condition of the pipeline. In just seven short years since that report, numerous other environmental groups, concerned citizens, tribes, and businesses across the state have joined the effort, forcing the question of Line 5’s future to the forefront of Michigan state politics.

The Shut Down Line 5 movement began in 1953, before the pipeline was even built. This fact may come as a surprise to present observers and participants in the effort to convince state elected officials to permanently decommission the aging twin pipelines hovering beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

More ...

Whitmer must shut down Line 5 - by Anne Woiwode, MI Sierra Club Chair

On Earth Day, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s visionary new Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) was born, bringing together the ambitious goals of protecting the Great Lakes, addressing climate change and environmental justice and enacting an agenda to quickly transition to a clean energy future.

But just days earlier, it was reported that Whitmer said she is open to negotiating with Enbridge about allowing its deteriorating 66-year-old crude oil and natural gas liquids Line 5 pipeline to continue to operate, even though it threatens all four of her stated goals, both in the Straits of Mackinac, and along the pipeline’s full 645-mile course.

The potential Whitmer-Enbridge negotiation is ill-advised. It threatens to continue the disastrous direction set by former Gov. Rick Snyder and former Attorney General Bill Schuette.

More ...

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Enbridge is trying to convince Michiganders that their "way forward" for a Line 5 oil tunnel through the Great Lakes is a good idea. You know it's not true. Come to demonstrate outside Enbridge events next week with a loud and proud message - No Oil Tunnel through the Great Lakes!

BREAKING: Line 5 Tunnel Law Unconstitutional - Now Shut Down Line 5!

Leaders of the Oil & Water Don't Mix campaign to protect the Great Lakes from oil pipelines praised actions by Gov. Whitmer today on Line 5 in response to an attorney general’s opinion and urged her to move quickly in decommissioning Enbridge’s troubled Line 5. Attorney General Dana Nessel’s comprehensive, detailed legal analysis requested by Gov. Whitmer concluded that in the lame-duck legislature’s haste to enact Public Act 359 during the closing days of the 2018 session it committed many fatal flaws when drafting the legislation. Attorney General Nessel also concluded related agreements for a Line 5 oil tunnel should be voided along with Public Act 359. In response, Gov. Whitmer issued an executive directive halting state agencies from moving forward on a proposed Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel. “The backroom deals creating Enbridge’s proposed oil tunnel couldn’t survive public scrutiny and now we know they can’t survive the rule of law,” said Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director of FLOW (For Love of Water). “It’s time to focus on Michigan’s true energy future and protect Michigan’s Great Lakes and our economy from a Line 5 pipeline rupture. The path forward for Michigan is for Gov. Whitmer to immediately begin the process of decommissioning Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.” “By upending the Enbridge sweetheart deals struck by former Gov. Snyder, Attorney General Nessel is protecting Michigan from horrible agreements that only benefit Enbridge,” said Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for Oil & Water Don’t Mix. “The attorney general is rightfully wiping the legal slate clean and now Gov. Whitmer has the opportunity to put Michigan on a path that doesn’t lead to a disastrous outcome for the Great Lakes and Michigan. Her decision to halt all Line 5 activity is a significant and appropriate step forward and has our full support.” Help OWDM counter the media blitz that is sure to come from Enbridge Fund our new social media campaign to spread the truth about Line 5 GIVE NOW Previously Gov. Whitmer asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to focus on Michigan’s energy infrastructure and issue an initial report by July. As part of a plan to decommission Line 5, Gov. Whitmer should make sure that the public service commission includes a focus on the energy needs of Upper Peninsula residents. “Studies have shown that Line 5 is not critical energy infrastructure for Michigan, including the UP,” said Anne Woiwode, Chair of Sierra Club in Michigan. “The public service commission report can be an important tool to point the way to both short and longer term energy solutions for the UP, including alternatives to using Line 5 to transport natural gas liquids used to produce propane.” The Straits of Mackinac Alliance, a group challenging the state permits that allow Enbridge to add 200 anchor supports to buy more time for the 66-year-old Line 5 pipeline, which is well past its expected lifespan, said it is past time to pull the plug on Enbridge’s ticking time bomb. “The time for action by the governor is now,” said Leonard Page, vice chair of the alliance. “Initiating the legal process for decommissioning Line 5 must start immediately so we can finally eliminate this serious risk of an oil spill in the Great Lakes.” “The idea of building new fossil fuel infrastructure with a 99-year lease is nonsensical given the latest science bulletin about climate change,” saidBill Latka of TC350. “The IPCC, an international body of climate scientists, says that we have 11 years to reduce our fossil fuel use by 50 percent. Building a tunnel may not even be started in 11 years. It makes no sense.” Oil & Water Don't Mix looks forward to working with and encouraging Gov. Whitmer and her administration to take the swift action necessary to eliminate this threat to our Great Lakes and curtail Michigan's role as a conduit for climate-warming fossil fuels. David Holtz Oil & Water Don't Mix http://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/ GIVE NOW Learn more about the Movement. Visit: www.oilandwaterdontmix.org Follow on Twitter and Facebook. Oil & Water Don't Mix 602 W Ionia St, Lansing, MI 48933, United States cleanwater@oilandwaterdontmix.org

 

Gov. Whitmer Signs Executive Directive Ordering State Departments and Agencies to Halt Action on PA 359

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

March 28, 2019 

Gov. Whitmer Signs Executive Directive Ordering State Departments and Agencies to Halt Action on PA 359 

Attorney General Nessel declares Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority law unconstitutional 

LANSING, Mich. -- Today after reviewing the opinion issued by Attorney General Nessel, Governor Whitmer signed an executive directive instructing state departments and agencies to halt any actions in furtherance of the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority law, Public Act 359 of 2018.   

“I agree with the conclusion reached by Attorney General Nessel,” Whitmer said. “The Great Lakes are our most precious resource in Michigan, and because of their significance, I’ve instructed state departments and agencies to halt any actions in furtherance of this law.”  

Executive Directive 2019-13 directs state departments and autonomous agencies not to take any further action regarding Act 359 and to report to the governor’s legal counsel regarding actions taken since the bill was passed. 

This Executive Directive will be effective immediately upon filling.  

To view the full executive directive and Attorney General opinion, click the links below: 

• AG OPINION .pdf
• ED 2019-13 Public Act 359 of 2018 .pdf

Mackinac Island Brings Legal Actions against State of Michigan over Line 5 Oil Pipelines

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Mackinac Island Brings Legal Actions against State of Michigan
over Line 5 Oil Pipelines


City, joined by local citizens’ group, cites risk to economy and Lake Huron drinking water supply due to former State officials failure to apply the rule of law

The City of Mackinac Island is formally challenging two permits issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) in 2018 to try to reduce the risk of catastrophic damage to the island posed by the 66-year old Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.

“For years, Island residents have been promised that Line 5 would have a limited life span. Instead of safely phasing out the  dangerous aged dual lines in the Straits, state officials have proposed to extend the operation of the dual pipelines as much as another 10 years,” said Margaret Doud, the mayor of the City of Mackinac Island for over 40 years. “The City, people, and businesses have waited far too long. It is time to bring Line 5 under the rule of law and bring it to an orderly closure. Enough is enough.”

The City filed a new petition contesting the DEQ’s November 2018 decision to issue a permit for the installation of 48 saddle supports along the dual pipelines, as well as an application to intervene in an already pending contested case proceeding involving a similar permit for 22 such supports issued by the DEQ in May 2018. The existing contested case was filed last summer by a local citizens group, the Straits of Mackinac Alliance. A separate petition was also filed by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and combined into one administrative proceeding. Given the similarity of the two permits, the City and the citizens group jointly filed the new contested case, and are requesting that the Administrative Law Judge overseeing the proceedings combine the new permit challenge with the previous one. A status conference in the prior case involving the 22 anchor supports will take place in early February, after which the parties expect to learn whether their request to combine the cases is likely to be granted by the Administrative Law Judge.


These filings by the City of Mackinac Island underscore the serious and increasing risks of the aging dual pipelines. The petition highlights that Enbridge’s decision to install the anchor supports (totaling nearly 200 in number, if constructed) significantly alters the structure and design of the pipelines, lifting them off the lake bed and suspending them in the water column of the Straits. While the company and the DEQ under former Governor Snyder classified these permits as “maintenance,” the City and citizens group contend that the installation of these anchor supports represents a fundamental and unauthorized change in the structural design of the pipelines that were originally approved by the state in 1953.

By turning the pipelines into an underwater suspension bridge above the lakebed, these support structures increase the risk of an anchor strike hitting the pipeline, like the one that occurred in April 2018. The altered design also subjects the 66-year old pipelines to the strong currents of the Straits of Mackinac to a much greater extent than originally contemplated when the pipeline was laid along the bottom of the Straits. An oil spill from the continued operation of these risky old pipelines would result in devastating damage to the City, the Straits, and large portions of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. In fact, expert economists from Michigan State University have estimated the potential economic damage from a worst-case scenario spill in the tens of billions of dollars.

The City’s petition also cites the potential contamination of the City’s drinking water supply and municipal water infrastructure (both of which are located in Lake Huron); interruption of ferry and freight service; suspension of solid waste disposal; impacts to its docks and harbor; and the expected problems that a Line 5 spill in the Straits would pose to the City’s evacuation plans and emergency management services as motivating its participation in the case.

“The DEQ turned its back on its legal duty to require authorization of the major design change of these dual lines in the Straits,” said Scott Howard, a Traverse City environmental and municipal attorney representing the City of Mackinac Island. “The stakes are simply too high and the risks are unacceptable for the DEQ to fail to fully implement the laws that protect our Great Lakes, the City of Mackinac Island, and all of us who live in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.”
The new petition filed by the City and the Straits of Mackinac Alliance seeks a ruling that the use of 200 anchor supports elevating almost 3 miles of the dual pipelines constitutes a major change in design that requires a full review of potential risks and adverse impacts, and also requires Enbridge to prove that it has no feasible and prudent alternatives to transport oil through its 3,000-mile pipeline system other than by way of the Straits of Mackinac and the waters and lakebed of the Great Lakes. If alternatives exist, the City and other petitioners contend that the dual lines must be closed.

“The Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act is based on a solemn duty of the state of Michigan as trustee of the Great Lakes and protector of the public trust uses of the Great Lakes – uses which the City, the Straits of Mackinac Alliance, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians depend on,” said Ross Hammersley, who along with Rebecca Millican and Mr. Howard, represents the Straits of Mackinac Alliance and the City.

Background – Enbridge masks redesign of slumping Line 5 as “repair” projects

Following an “emergency” application to the DEQ in 2001, Enbridge began installing a series of supports to shore up slumping segments along the 8.5 miles of dual crude oil pipeline in the Straits caused by strong currents scouring the lakebed beneath the pipe. Enbridge first utilized grout bag supports, but in 2003 the Canadian company began screwing pairs of “helical anchor support structures” directly into the lakebed, between which the pipe rests in a metal saddle.

The DEQ has improperly narrowed the legally required review of risks and alternatives associated with the use of the saddle  supports and has ignored the substantial changes to Line 5’s design and the effects of those saddle supports (including scouring of the pipeline’s coating) which were not accounted for in the original design. By calling the anchor supports “repairs” and “maintenance” activity, the DEQ review was confined solely to the footprint of each individual screw driven into the lakebed rather than the effects and risks of, and alternatives to, a total design change. New or additional stresses on the pipeline resulting from the redesign have not been considered. 

In the spring of 2018, the DEQ authorized the latest series of installations, approving Enbridge’s permit to install 22 more saddle supports under sections of the unsupported lines in the Straits of Mackinac. In November 2018 DEQ permitted another 48 supports. Thus, over approximately 16 years, the DEQ has authorized Enbridge to prop up Line 5 with 200 saddle supports, elevating nearly 3 miles of heavy steel pipeline into the waters and above the lakebed of Lake Michigan, exposing Line 5 to Straits currents experts have observed possess 10 times the force of Niagara Falls. Once more Enbridge and the DEQ have characterized the installation of those supports as “repairs” and “maintenance” to avoid consideration and authorization of the major change in design of Line 5 in the Straits. By now, however, the failed design of Line 5 is evident.

Background – Citizens’ group and tribe file contested cases in the summer of 2018

Last summer the Straits of Mackinac Alliance, an organization of waterfront land and business owners and citizens along Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, whose fishing waters and lands are protected tribal property under an 1836 Treaty, filed petitions to contest the DEQ’s failure to require Enbridge to apply for authorization of the new design under the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act (“GLSLA”).

The GLSLA prohibits occupancy, use, and improvements in, on, or under the waters and soils of the Great Lakes without consideration of and findings that potential impacts would be minimal, not likely to impair the waters, the soils under them, and important public uses like fishing, navigation, and boating. Meaningful GLSLA review would also require a showing that no alternative to a crude oil pipeline across the Straits exists. 

The GLSLA does not allow the DEQ to circumvent its standards by simply deeming Enbridge’s saddle support installations “repairs” or “maintenance.” The total or major design change created by elevating miles of the dual lines into Straits waters has never been applied for or authorized. Failed supports, loss of protective pipeline coating, and gouges in the dual lines from an anchor strike in April 2018 have intensified both the risk and immediacy of the need for compliance demanded by the GLSLA to protect the waters, soils, and the Great Lakes, and the protected uses dependent on them.

“It is time our state officials end this charade and require Enbridge to file a full application subject to comprehensive review  under the standards that protect and apply to all of us based on the rule of law, not the rule of Enbridge,” Mr. Howard added. 

The contested case filings may be downloaded here.

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Whitmer takes first step to block Enbridge Line 5 tunnel

LANSING — On her first working day in office, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acted Wednesday to potentially block the Enbridge Line 5 tunnel backed by former Gov. Rick Snyder.

Whitmer announced Wednesday she has turned to newly elected Attorney General Dana Nessel for a legal opinion on six questions related to whether legislation rushed through the Legislature to authorize the proposed Line 5 tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac complies with the state constitution.

Nessel said she welcomed the request and cautioned Enbridge against relying on recently passed legislation to move forward with its plans for a $350 million to $500 million tunnel, while her ruling is pending.

Read more ...

Gov. Whitmer asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to conduct an independent review of Public Act 395

Today Gov. Whitmer asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to conduct an independent review of Public Act 395 — the badly flawed law passed for Enbridge in the lame duck legislature to create a Mackinac Straits Utility Corridor Authority and keep Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits.

Attorney General Nessel has vowed to make her Line 5 review a top priority and for the first time in more than four years, decisions about Enbridge’s oil pipelines will be made by elected officials away from entanglements and influence from Enbridge and the oil industry.

Today’s action by the governor and attorney general is an important step toward clearing the air on Line 5 and protecting the Great Lakes from an Enbridge Line 5 pipeline rupture. Public Act 395 created the fiction of solving the Line 5 problem but in reality, it laid the groundwork for backroom deals that would increase the risk for the Great Lakes and Michigan taxpayers.

For more than four years, former Gov. Snyder and former Attorney General Schuette have overseen a corrupt process intended to produce a good result for Enbridge. These maneuvers came at the expense of protecting the Great Lakes and Michigan’s economy from a high risk oil pipeline rupture in the Mackinac Straits. Under Snyder and Schuette, Enbridge was allowed to fund “independent” Line 5 studies under the auspices of the state that were actually conducted by the oil industry. Those studies predictably led to the current proposal by Snyder and Schuette to keep Line 5 operating in the Mackinac Straits with the possibility of eventually putting Enbridge’s pipelines inside a tunnel.

Gov. Whitmer stated during her campaign that climate change "is a real threat to our environment, our economy, and the health and wellbeing of the people of our state.” With today’s decision by the new governor and backed by a new attorney general, Michigan can begin to reclaim its role as a protector of the Great Lakes and can begin to address the threat posed by climate change.

Onward!

David Holtz
Communications
Oil & Water Don't Mix
602 W Ionia St, Lansing, MI 48933

Schmidt calls for shutdown of Enbridge pipeline under the straits during independent investigation

For Immediate Release
April 11, 2018

Contact: Connie Russell                
517-373-2413

LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, issued the following statement on Wednesday regarding the recent damage to Line 5 and other underwater cables beneath the straits:

“I cannot begin to explain my disappointment with what happened last week — not only because of what happened, but how it was handled as well. 

“The communication efforts by Enbridge and ATC were nonexistent. I have been in contact with my federal partners, including Congressman Bergman’s office, and there is a mutual concern that because the communication efforts on behalf of all companies involved were this poor, efforts toward fixing the problem will also be less than impressive. If waiting days for information about something so important is what we’re to expect, I have zero confidence situations like this have been and will be handled in a timely, effective manner.

Read more ...

Oil & Water Don’t Mix Slams Governor’s Pro-Enbridge Response to Damaged Line 5

Shutting Down Line 5 is the Only Way to Protect the Great Lakes

CONTACT: Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don’t Mix, (616) 516-7758

 The following statement can be attributed to Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don’t Mix Coordinator:  

“Enbridge has just disclosed dents in the dual pipelines caused by the same vessel that hit two electric cables and spilled 600 gallons of hazardous oils into the Straits last week. There is no question -- the time has come to shut down Line 5.”

“Pipelines do not belong in the Straits of Mackinac, period. Our state’s economy, tourism, and way of life revolves around keeping our Great Lakes in a pristine condition. There’s simply too much at stake to keep Line 5 in operation.”

“This lame duck Governor’s immediate response to allow a new tunneled oil pipeline under the Straits proves what Michiganders have suspected for a long time - this Governor puts a Canadian oil company’s interests before the people of Michigan or the Great Lakes.”

“Rebuilding the pipeline would lock our state into decades more of transporting dirty, dangerous Canadian oil, putting our state and the Great Lakes and other Michigan waterways at grave risk while providing very little benefit to Michigan.”

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Oil & Water Don’t Mix is a broad campaign of organizations, citizens and businesses across Michigan who are working to keep oil out of our Great Lakes by shutting down the dangerous, 64-year-old Line 5 Pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The campaign fights for clean water and air, Indigenous rights, reducing pollution, sustainable economies and protecting sporting, tourism and jobs that are dependent on our water and Pure Michigan way of life.

Learn more at www.oilandwaterdontmix.org.

Line 5 oil pipeline in Straits of Mackinac dented by ship

Keith Matheny, Detroit Free PressPublished 2:43 p.m. ET April 11, 2018 | Updated 6:14 p.m. ET April 11, 2018

The same "vessel activity" that appears to have damaged submerged electric cables in the Straits of Mackinac last week, causing a leak of 550 gallons of benzene-containing coolant, may have also caused three dents just discovered in the Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline, also underwater where lakes Michigan and Huron connect.

Canadian oil transport giant Enbridge, which owns and operates Line 5, informed state officials late Tuesday of the dents, characterized as "very small" and posing "no threat to the pipeline," Gov. Rick Snyder's office said in a statement Wednesday.

Read more ...

Michigan leaders have tunnel vision on Line 5

Jim Olson is founder and president of FLOW (For Love of Water), a Great Lakes water law and policy nonprofit organization.

When we think of “tunnel vision” we think of narrow-mindedness, myopic thinking, or the horses at the start of the Kentucky Derby with blinders, eyes fixed straight ahead on only one option ‒ a one-way, no-return, single track. Applied to the words and actions of our state’s leaders over the last several years to remove the catastrophic risk to the Straits and the Great Lakes from Enbridge Line 5, the phrase could not be more accurate. While putting up the façade of leadership on Line 5, our leaders have in complicity narrowed the alternatives for Line 5 to a new replacement line or tunnel in the Straits.

It started with the rupture in 2010 of Enbridge’s Line 6b that crosses southern Michigan from Indiana to Sarnia, Canada, spilling a million gallons into the Kalamazoo River and costing more than $1 billion in cleanup so far and untold harm to the river, residents, and quality of life. Nearly everyone in Michigan saw the video clips of the black tar balls and ooze, dead fish and waterfowl, the largest oil spill into inland waters in our country’s history. The disaster triggered a number of questions, not the least of which was to look for other aging crude oil pipelines that cross the waters of Michigan. The answer came as a shock – 64-year-old Line 5, a 645-mile long line from Wisconsin across the UP, and, there it was, right there on the Public Service Commission’s (“PSC”) map, in the Straits of Mackinac, then down through Northern Michigan’s to near Port Huron, under the St. Clair River and into Canada. 

‘If you seek a pleasant peninsula...’ 

Governor Snyder responded that there was nothing Michigan could do about Line 5, because the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction and control over Line 5.

More ...

GOOD Vote on Line 5 at MI Pipeline Safety Advisory Board today

The Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board today backed in passing three resolutions brought by the enviro and public interests today when all the state officials, Enbridge and Marathon reps on the Board abstained from the votes.  They failed to study their own bylaws/meeting protocols and we caught them when they thought that the measures failed because there was a majority of abstentions. Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Conservation Chair and former Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, was able to track down they meeting guidelines, which cite Roberts Rules, and found that Robert Rules says that abstentions don't count toward the vote, just to the quorum.  It was lovely to have about half the Board be stunned that the Board passed these resolutions.

Here are some stories on it, and NWF's and Oil and Water Don't Mix's statements:

Washington Post: Michigan panel urges temporary shutdown of Mackinac pipeline

MLive.com: Pipeline board advises Line 5 shutdown until repairs are made

Detroit News: State pipeline panel to Snyder: Halt Line 5 for now

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 11, 2017

Contact: Drew YoungeDyke, National Wildlife Federation, 734-887-7119, youngedyked@nwf.org

Pipeline Safety Advisory Board Passes Resolutions Calling for Temporary Shutdown of Line 5

LANSING, MI --- Members of Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board (PSAB) passed formal resolutions - including a temporary shutdown of Line 5 - today at their quarterly meeting urging the State of Michigan to amend its agreement with Enbridge on Line 5, which Governor Snyder signed without consulting the PSAB in November. 

The resolutions call for a shutdown of Line 5 until the entire line is inspected for protective coating gaps and all gaps are filled, and modify the definition of “adverse weather conditions” to a higher standard than eight-foot waves, which triggered a temporary shut down last week. An additional resolution calls for the state to more fully study Michigan’s needs from Line 5, including alternatives that focus on the needs for Michigan over the business interests of Enbridge. 

“These resolutions seek to strengthen the agreement the Governor signed with Enbridge so that it actually does what it purports to do: provide a path forward for determining the future of Line 5 while protecting the Great Lakes,” said Mike Shriberg, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center and a member of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, who co-sponsored the resolutions. “While the few services Line 5 provides to Michigan have been shown to have feasible alternatives, there is no substitute for the Great Lakes and our way of life.”

On November 27, Governor Rick Snyder announced an agreement with Enbridge to study a tunnel replacement for Line 5, one of the alternatives included in a state-commissioned alternatives analysis released just a week before. The Pipeline Safety Advisory Board was not consulted in the agreement, which included a trigger for a temporary shutdown of flow through the pipeline in “adverse weather conditions,” defined as when waves reached an average of eight feet. While those conditions were met last week, the resolutions urge that definition to be modified to three feet and include ice cover and other conditions when the Coast Guard would be impeded from an oil spill response. 

All three resolutions, introduced by Mike Shriberg, R. Craig Hupp and Jennifer McKay, were passed by the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, with support from the sponsors, as well as Homer A. Mandoka and Chris Shepler, and the rest abstaining. There was one “no” vote on the resolution to temporarily shut down Line 5 until coating gaps are repaired. Resolutions adopted by the PSAB are advisory and not binding upon the state. 

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Drew YoungeDyke Communications Coordinator National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center 734-887-7119 www.nwf.org Uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Dec. 11, 2017

Contact: Sean McBrearty, Oil & Water Don’t Mix, 616-516-7758

Statement from Oil & Water Don’t Mix on Pipeline Safety Advisory Board Meeting

LANSING – Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for Oil & Water Don’t Mix, issued the following statement on today’s meeting of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board:

“The Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, led by members representing Michigan businesses, communities and Tribes, took a promising step forward today by acknowledging the 64-year-old Line 5 pipelines are unsafe to operate, and we look forward to continuing to work with all PSAB members, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Governor Rick Snyder to shut down these dangerous, outdated pipelines as soon as possible.” 

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Oil & Water Don’t Mix is a broad campaign of businesses, organizations and citizens across Michigan who are working to keep oil out of our Great Lakes by shutting down the dangerous, 64-year-old Line 5 Pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The campaign fights for clean water and air, Indigenous rights, reducing pollution, sustainable economies and protecting sporting, tourism and jobs that are dependent on our water and Pure Michigan way of life. Learn more at www.oilandwaterdontmix.org. 

Residents at Downriver public forum overwhelmingly oppose Enbridge Line 5’s future

Sierra Club member Ed McArdle's photo and comments in this article:

• By Alex Franzen For The News-Herald
 
• Dec 8, 2017 Updated Dec 8, 2017
   

Thad Shumway (left), president and owner of North Bay Energy, spoke in favor of Line 5, while Melvindale resident Edward McArdle opposes it. Alex Franzen – For The News-Herald

Thad Shumway, president and owner of North Bay Energy, a natural gas marketing company in Traverse City, delivers a public comment at the session. Shumway said he wants the pipeline to remain in commission. Alex Franzen – For The News-Herald

Melvindale resident Edward McArdle listens to comments on the final version of the Enbridge Line 5 Alternatives Analysis report after speaking at the state of Michigan’s first public feedback session Dec. 6. McArdle said the only real option is to shut the pipeline that travels through the Great Lakes. Alex Franzen – For The News-Herald

Heidi Grether, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (left); Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan DNR; Tracy Kecskemeti, southeast Michigan district coordinator for the MDEQ; Valerie Brader; executive director of the Michigan Agency for Energy; and Robert Reichel, first assistant attorney general for Michigan, listen to the public comments. Alex Franzen – For The News-Herald

Michiganders voiced their concerns on the future of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline at a public comment session Wednesday night in Taylor.

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