LANSING (WKZO AM/FM) — A state sanctioned report on the Line 5 pipeline says there are a number of alternatives available to reducing the risk that there will be a failure and thousands of gallons of crude oil or gasoline would be released into the Straits of Mackinac, but they would all come at a cost to consumers.
The Dynamic Risk Analysis says the greatest threat to the pipeline is a ship dragging its anchor. A spill would cost between 150 and 300 million to clean up. They say there is a 4/10’s of a percent of that happening in the next 35-years.
They suggest a variety of alternatives, including putting it in a trench, putting the pipeline in a tunnel under the straights, wrapping it around the lakes and using trucks instead.
Some reduce the risk, some increase the risks by hundreds of times, and all of them cost more than the status quo.
Another report, this one from Enbridge is due early next month and Congressman Fred Upton says he will be anxious to see it after Enbridge has given a variety of different stories over the past year on the pipeline’s ceramic coating.
The Governor and Upton demanded a comprehensive status report on the pipeline after the lastest report, which suggested there could be dozens of what they call “Vacations” in that coating, which is supposed to protect the metal pipe from corrosion.
Upton says he got a face to face meeting with an Enbridge executive last week, and will get the same report that the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board gets in the next few weeks.Enbridge says the pipeline is safe.
