Detroit, Michigan, Environmental and Native American activists rally to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac. On the grounds that an oil leak would cause disastrous damage to the Great Lakes, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has revoked the 1953 easement which allowed the company to build the pipeline. Enbridge says it will ignore the governor’s order. In the background is Marathon Petroleum’s Detroit refinery. (Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
On Saturday, September 26, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zelden announced support for construction of a planned tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan to place a new section of Enbridge’s beleaguered Line 5 oil and gas pipeline. (Source). Zeldin’s comments followed an announcement by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer that Michigan’s environmental regulators would reconsider a key state environmental permit issued to Line 5. In August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted approvals for construction of the approximately 4-mile long tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac. This will house a segment of Line 5 that would replace on old section which is wearing out.
Zeldin’s comments came during an energy roundtable with members of the oil and gas industry in Michigan and reiterates that the Administration remains opposed to efforts by the Whitmer Administration to shut the critical pipeline which transports oil and natural gas emanating in Canada from Superior, Wisconsin back into Canada to a refinery in Sarnia, Ontario. Any shutdown of Line 5 could have a dramatic impact not only on natural gas availability in Michigan but also in the supply of jet fuel to key airports such of Detroit Wayne County and Lester Pearson Airport in Toronto.
Over the last two weeks, Michigan has not been the only battleground impacting Line 5. On August 26, a flatbed truck improperly entered an evacuation site in Iron County, Wisconsin, causing a spill of approximately 1.3 million gallons of natural gas. (Source). The spill was the largest in the history of the State of Wisconsin since at least 1986, was only a few miles from the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s Chippewa’s reservation. It prompted calls from the tribe and others to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to declare a disaster and a State of Emergency. Should Wisconsin do so, it could prompt the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to halt construction on a temporary bypass, in effect putting the critical pipeline out of service.
Enbridge estimates that the repair costs for emergency response, public and private property damage to be over $15M. The spill only adds pressure to the Canadian pipeline company, which is being buffeted between environmental concerns among American Democratic politicians and the US/Canada trade war. There are some reports that Enbridge ignored the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, constructed the bypass without the required permits and restarted the pipeline. (Source). This has led to a war of words between the Evers Administration and Enbridge, and added to the pressure being put on by Michigan. In fact, Michigan Governor Whitmer called Line 5 “..a ticking time bomb in the heart of the Great Lakes.”
EPA Administrator Zeldin’s comments thus put the Trump Administration in the unusual position of seeking to defend the continued operation of the pipeline and the importing of Canadian energy at the same time that certain Canadian officials such as Ontario Premier Doug Ford are strongly suggesting to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that Canada embargo energy exports to the United States. (Source).
With the exception of the Trump Administration then, all parties seem to be pushing to close one of the most critical pipelines for two countries. All of those parties thus are in the position of “be careful what you wish for, you may get it…’
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