Michigan, oil company reach deal on pipeline safety

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian oil transport company Enbridge

Inc. announced a timeline Monday for determining the future of twin pipelines beneath the channel where Lakes Huron and Michigan converge.

Options include shutting down the lines or routing them through a tunnel beneath the lakebed where they now rest.

The plan calls for reaching a final agreement by Aug. 15, 2018, on the pipes beneath the Straits of Mackinac, a 5-mile-long scenic waterway with high value to the tourist industry and Great Lakes environment. They are part of Enbridge’s Line 5, which carries nearly 23 million gallons of oil and liquid natural gas daily across northern Wisconsin and Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario.

The company has repeatedly insisted the underwater segment installed in 1953 is in good condition and has never leaked. However, state officials and environmental groups have expressed alarm over recent disclosures of gaps in its exterior layer of protective enamel coating and unsupported spaces beneath the pipes.

“Business as usual by Enbridge is not acceptable and we are going to ensure the highest level of environmental safety standards are implemented to protect one of Michigan’s most valuable natural resources,” Snyder said.

The Republican governor’s administration has resisted critics’ demands to order the lines decommissioned, but that option “is still on the table,” said Valerie Brader, executive director of the Michigan Agency for Energy.

“Today’s agreement does not represent a final decision by the state regarding Line 5, but instead provides a clear schedule on which a decision will either be reached cooperatively with Enbridge or the state will take another path,” Brader said.