Mayors back tough new rules on pipeline

A Michigan government task force stopped short of joining environment groups calling for the shutting down of a more than 60-year-old oil and gas pipeline that crosses the Straits of Mackinac on its way to Sarnia.

But in a report released this week, the Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force did make several recommendations about the Enbridge pipeline, including calling for an immediate ban on its use to move heavy crude oil, including Alberta oilsands crude.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette called the report’s recommendations “tough but fair,” and added, “Certainly, the Straits Pipelines would not be built today.”

Built in 1953 to carry western Canadian oil to refineries in Sarnia, Line 5 splits into two pipelines crossing the Straits of Mackinac along four miles of the lake bottom.

On its website, Enbridge says the pipeline has the capacity to carry 540,000 barrels a day. It also says the sections crossing the Straits of Mackinac have never had a leak.

The state task force was formed last year, in the wake of the July 26, 2010 spill of oilsands crude into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River from another Enbridge pipeline, leading to a billiondollar cleanup that continues today, as well as a 2012 the National Wildlife Federation report raising concern about the pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac.

The recommendations by the task force require action by Michigan’s governor, state agencies and its legislature, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Those recommendations include a call for an independent risk analysis of the pipelines, adequate financial liability assurance from Enbridge, an independent look at alternatives to the pipelines and disclosure of company safety reports.

Ken Hall, a spokesperson with Enbridge in Sarnia, said in an email that the report “has provided an opportunity for pipeline operators in Michigan to work with the state to address key issues and questions from Michigan residents, including those on pipeline safety, reliability and maintenance programs.”

Hall added the call for a ban on heavy crude on Line 5 isn’t an issue as it only carries light crude products.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said mayors and other delegates to a recent Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative gathering in SarniaLambton endorsed a call for tougher rules and laws for moving oil and gas through the region.

Issues raised by the Cities Initiative match those identified by the task force, including the call for full disclosure of information by pipeline companies, Bradley said.

“If you’re saying to us a pipeline is 50 years old, or 60 years old, then prove that it’s still functional, and that it is not going to spill,” he said.

Bradley said a large number of pipelines cross the St. Clair River into Lambton County, making pipeline safety a local concern. While local officials support moving oil and gas by pipelines, “it has got to be done in the safest, environmental manner possible,” Bradley said.