This white paper documents that the vast North American oil pipeline network has more than sufficient capacity to ensure that Michigan and Midwest refineries could operate with no economic disruption without Line 5. It also identifies viable solutions that should be implemented to secure necessary propane to Upper Peninsula residents, as well as to transport northern Lower Peninsula oil to southeastern markets.
On May 31, Groundwork and the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center (NWF) hosted a Line 5 Business Reception at the Chippewa Hotel on Mackinac Island to coincide with the start of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce Mackinac Policy Conference the next morning.
Two years ago, practically no one in Michigan was aware of the aging, twin oil pipelines lying at the bottom of the Mackinac Straits. Today, as a result of the Groundwork Center and partners seizing the issue and building a strong public outcry, we are closer to Line 5 becoming the first major oil pipeline in North America to be decommissioned.
Here’s a recap of some of the latest developments in Groundwork’s efforts, as part of the Oil and Water Don’t Mix coalition, to raise awareness of the threats posed by the pipelines in the Mackinac Straits.
More than a dozen allied environmental groups launched a new website and TV commercial outlining the environmental and economic threats posed by two aging oil pipelines crossing through the Great Lakes at the Mackinac Straits. The website, OilandWaterDontMix.org, features the new commercial and details the danger posed by the daily flow of nearly 23 million gallons of oil through pipelines lying on the bottom of the Straits just west of the Mackinac Bridge.
The Michigan Land Use Institute is pleased to sign on to this letter to remind the governor and attorney general of the important legal authority they hold on behalf of Michigan’s citizens to protect our public trust in the Great Lakes. The State of Michigan retains full legal authority over all activities that occur in the waters and bottomlands of the Great Lakes-and requires complete transparency, disclosure, and accountability from Enbridge regarding the pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac.