KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — A complicated deal has been reached with Enbridge, which will not settle whether Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac should be shut down, but will reduce the risk of a catastrophic leak until that decision is made.
For now the pipeline will be shut down during inclement weather, when it would be impossible to execute a clean-up of any leaked petroleum products.
The Governor says business as usual is not acceptable, because the firm has been less than forthcoming with the status of the pipeline.
Congressman Fred Upton says he has been working with the Governor, and says his ultimate goal is to have the pipeline rebuilt. Enbridge V.P. Guy Jarvis says they realize their handling of the matter has been clumsy and are promising more transparency.
The deal between the Governor and the Canadian pipeline firm also calls for the pipeline under Lake St. Clair to Sarnia to be rebuilt in a tunnel under the waterway.
It also calls for studies by Enbridge to weight alternatives on how to make Line 5 under the Straits as spill proof as possible and protected from ship anchors, which one study cited as the biggest threat to the lines.
There are also requirements that the monitoring system be upgraded and that the mechanisms for reacting to any spill operate more quickly. Upton would also like to see the pipeline buried, but as the spill near Marshall demonstrated, lines below ground also rupture, and may be more difficult to monitor.
The plans fall short of the demands by environmental watchdog groups that the pipeline be decommissioned.
