NWF Press Release: Federal Agency Places Anchor-Damaged Line 5 on Restricted Flow
The National Wildlife Federation issued this press release at 6:46pm, April 27, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Drew YoungeDyke, youngedyked@nwf.org, 734–887–7119
Federal Agency Places Anchor-Damaged Line 5 on Restricted Flow
National Wildlife Federation Calls for Permanent Decommissioning and Immediate Stoppage of All Flow until Independent Analysis Shows Line is Safe
ANN ARBOR, MI (April 27, 2018) — Late today, Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board members were notified that the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has asked Enbridge to operate its Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac on restricted flow, due to the damage it received from an anchor strike on April 1, 2018. The strike damaged four areas of coating damage on the twin pipelines, including coating removal and bare metal visible at the point of impact.
“All flow into Line 5 should be stopped immediately to protect the Great Lakes from imminent danger of an oil pipeline rupture until and unless independent analyses show that the pipeline is safe,” said Mike Shriberg, Great Lakes executive director for the National Wildlife Federation and a member of Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board. “If Line 5 is so damaged that an emergency flow restriction is necessary, then it is too unsafe to continue to operate in the Straits of Mackinac and risk the water, wildlife and economy of the Great Lakes. This should be the beginning of the permanent decommissioning of Line 5 in the Straits.”
An emergency flow restriction on a pipeline can be required if it is deemed necessary to protect a High Consequence Area, which includes the Great Lakes. Enbridge’s Line 6B was under restricted flow when it ruptured and spilled almost a million gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River in 2010.
“This is like the run-up to the Kalamazoo River oil spill all over again, with Enbridge downplaying the deterioration of their pipeline until it’s too late,” said Beth Wallace, Great Lakes partnerships manager for the National Wildlife Federation. “It has been almost a month since the original anchor strike, when Enbridge originally said that there was no damage to Line 5. Then it was ‘three small dents.’ Now it’s three dents plus four areas of damaged coating and complete coating removal at the point of impact. What will they report the damage to be next?”
A tugboat allegedly dragged its anchor through the Straits of Mackinac on April 1, damaging transmission lines and spilling over 600 gallons of insulating mineral oil into Lake Michigan. It also struck Line 5, and was recently revealed to have struck older transmission lines, too.
The 65-year-old Line 5 pumps up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids through the Straits of Mackinac each day, transporting Canadian oil from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario. A 2017 National Wildlife Federation report found 29 historic spills totaling over a million gallons on Line 5’s inland sections since 1965, and Enbridge admitted to the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board (PSAB) in September 2017 that Line 5 has over 40 locations with missing protective coating — some as large as a full sheet of paper — after originally telling the PSAB in March 2017 that there were none.
“The continued lack of transparency by Enbridge, their continued claims that ‘everything is fine’ before finally being forced to admit it’s not, is insufficient to provide Michigan citizens with the confidence that their water is safe,” said Shriberg. “Releasing two grainy images and a few talking points late on a Friday afternoon does not constitute transparency. All images and the full video need to be publicly released immediately. And independent analyses of the damage must be undertaken before the line is allowed to continue to operate.”
Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation is a nationwide federation of state and territorial affiliate organizations representing over 6 million members and supporters across the country. Its mission is to unite all Americans to help wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world.
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