LANSING (WKZO-AM) — Two House Democrats joined several environmental groups on Thursday, calling for an Enbridge pipeline that runs under the Straits of Mackinac to be shut down.
Both have introduced resolutions calling on Gov. Rick Snyder to initiate the termination clause on Enbridge’s permit for its No. 5 pipeline.
Rep. Jeff Irwin said the attorney general has talked a good game about the dangers presented by the pipeline, saying if Enbridge asked for the same permits today, they would be denied.
But he has done nothing about it.
“We have a 62-year-old pipeline in the worst possible place for a spill,” Irwin said.
Co-sponsor Sara Roberts cited Enbridge’s spill on the Kalamazoo River as evidence as to what can happen if the No. 5 pipeline were to rupture.
“It took nearly two full years of round-the-clock cleanup efforts and it devastated 35 miles of river,” Roberts said.
Both say, unlike the closed river system, it would be impossible to contain a spill in the straits with its fast flowing water, its depth and shifting currents.
– John McNeill
