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Let me begin by saying, thank you for the work that you do in educating about, and opposing, petroleum transport affecting the Great Lakes.


I am writing about an issue that I believe should be important to Oil & Water Don’t Mix, as it concerns the Great Lakes: a pipeline called Line 9B. I am wondering whether your organization has any plans to address threats presented by this pipeline to the Great Lakes.


Line 9B is a pipeline that passes from Sarnia to Montreal, directly through many ecologically sensitive waterways, including the St. Lawrence River. It’s difficult to even list the problems with this pipeline in a single e-mail: it is 40 years old, filled with cracks and leaks (which cannot even be properly measured, as the technology used has a 20% margin of error in detecting pipeline “features,” as the company calls them), and has had 35 significant spills in its lifetime. The company that operates the pipeline, Enbridge, is notorious for underreporting spills, so it’s not sure what the real number of spills is.


Enbridge would like to reverse the flow from Mtl-Sarnia to Sarnia-Mtl, switch the contents from conventional crude oil to highly pressurized, toxic, and corrosive diluted bitumen, which the pipeline was not designed to carry (and that sinks instead of floats, in an inevitable spill), and increase the capacity of the pipeline to 300,000 barrels per day, up from 240,000 bpd, by increasing the pressure on the pipeline. Enbridge refuses to do a hydrostatic test on the pipeline, as they say it would hurt the pipeline.


Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert with over 40 years of experience, has estimated the chances of rupture at “over 90%” in the first 5 years- a guaranteed spill would contaminate water for millions of people, likely forcing evacuation due to the toxic chemicals. The number of people affected rises to the tens of millions in the case of contamination of the Great Lakes.


The exact same thing was attempted in Kalamazoo, Michigan- a 40-year-old Enbridge pipeline had it’s contents switched from conventional crude to diluted bitumen, and spilled 3.3 million litres into the Kalamazoo River. That was in 2010, and it has yet to be completely cleaned up, largely because the oil sinks.


The Line 9B pipeline passes through or near 18 Indigenous Reserves. Not a single First Nation has been awarded the free, prior, and informed consent that each group is entitled to for anything that happens on reserve, under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Therefore, there is a legal challenge by the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation that is set to be heard on June 16th.


Regardless of the legal challenge, the National Energy Board may approve this pipeline any day now, and Enbridge has indicated that they intend to have it running by the end of June.


I would very much like to hear of any actions the coalition has planned regarding Line 9B, and would be very open to discussion of future actions, if you have not yet planned any, with the goal of stopping this extremely dangerous pipeline.


Thank you very much,


Rachel Thevenard

Student of Geomatics

University of Waterloo

Hi there,


I work with Great Lakes Commons, a project to envision and protect the Great Lakes as a living, thriving commons that we all care for in perpetuity. We are inspired by your work to keep oil out of the Great Lakes and are interested in actively working with the Oil & Water Don’t Mix coalition. Please let us know how we can become an active member of the coalition? You can learn more about our approach at greatlakescommons.org. Thanks very much and looking forward to hearing from you.

Questions: 1) Are both lines Grade B , x52 wall strength? 2) Were girth welds 100% xrayed or randomly selected in 1953, and can record of radiographic history be subpeoned or obtained via some contractor record? 3) The pipeline marker on your home page sort of defeats the silly notion that the exact location can not be disclosed because of the potential for terrorist activity—can I be sent a picture of this at John McLane 18823 Taft Rd; Big Rapids, MI 49307? Thanks!

The oil pipeline at the Mackinaw Straits is sixty years old. An oil spill could cause serious damage to our magnificent lakes. If there’ a chance to prevent this tragedy from occurring, I would like to participate in the action. Enbridge seems to have a poor track record.

Hello, I’m part of a small theatre ensemble called Children of the Wild (www.childrenofthewild.org) currently looking for partners around the Great Lakes to work with in connecting live performance and environmental action to protect the water masses of the entire Great Lakes region. For the last six months, we’ve been developing a theatre piece that will tour the Great Lakes in 2016, and are presently scouting around the Lakes for possible performance sites and critical stories to share. Our current work is intertwining with the Great Lakes Commons Charter and Riverkeeper. We would similarly love to connect with Oil & Water Don’t Mix. Please let me know if there is someone I could speak with! Thanks, Lindsay (917) 605-2572; [email protected]

I support the cause of protecting our water. I wish your promotional video showed more than just white people enjoying it.

Dear OWDM,


i Thought you might find this New York Times story (see link below) of interest.


In light of this information, how can Bill Schuette continue to serve as co-chair of the Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Taskforce Committee? This is a real conflict of interest. He should step down from that position. The NYT article also lists him as among the top 10 attorneys general to receive donations from energy companies. With this in mind, it’s obvious that Schuette cannot make objective decisions when it comes to Michigan’s energy and pipeline related matters.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news


Keep up the great work!


Regards,

Steve Krause

Troy, MI

(PS; I have also written to Gov. Snyder and Schuette about this)

I have been in the oil spill response for 35 years in Alaska And call to try and help you set up a response center and give you some insight but got no response can you please let me no who I need to talk to before you have Exxon oil spill or a BP oil spill I work both them from day one and I hate to see this happen to Michigan water ways Thanks Peter

I have been in the oil spill response for 35 years in Alaska And call to try and help you set up a response center and give you some insight but got no response can you please let me no who I need to talk to before you have Exxon oil spill or a BP oil spill I work both them from day one and I hate to see this happen to Michigan water ways Thanks Peter

Please add Idle No More Michigan to your list of organizations in support of bringing awareness to the dangers of oil pipelines in the Great Lakes and on the lands. Idle No More Michigan is an Indigenous Movement that fights for land, air, water, and the people of Turtle Island.

www.facebook.com/idlenomoremichigan