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Add your name to these public comments to be submitted to Michigan state agencies by signing this petition.

PLEASE NOTE! The State of Michigan has closed the comment period. You may still sign the petition here, but the State of Michigan will not recieve your comment.

OWDMTake Action Now

Last June, the preliminary Line 5 Alternatives Study was released, and more than 23,000 people submitted their comment calling for the shutdown of Line 5 as the only alternative that will truly protect the Great Lakes from an oil spill. The revised and final Alternatives Study has just been released, which has triggered a second comment period that is now open.

Prevent a Catastrophic Great Lakes Oil Spill

The deadline for public comments is December 22, 2017, so please sign on and submit your comment today via this online form. Let's prevent a devastating oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac.

To the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Agency for Energy, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Governor, Michigan Attorney General, and Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board:

I am writing to submit my official comment in response to the State of Michigan’s Line 5 final alternatives analysis dated October 26 and released on November 20. I am deeply disappointed in this final analysis. A draft alternatives report released in June was riddled with errors and omissions, and the final report contains most of the same failures.

This report fails to meet its overall purpose of “providing the State of Michigan and other interested parties with an independent, comprehensive analysis of alternatives to the existing Straits Pipelines, and the extent to which each alternative promotes the public health, safety, and welfare and protects the public trust resources of the Great Lakes.”

It lacks credibility because its author is Dynamic Risk, a firm with ties to Enbridge, the Canadian energy transport company that owns Line 5. Even worse, it absurdly underestimates the impact of a spill and ignores a viable alternative to Line 5 – use of existing infrastructure. An independent expert review in December 2015 documented the practicality of this alternative.

Decommissioning Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is the only alternative that will prevent an oil spill with catastrophic consequences for the Great Lakes and the State of Michigan. Moreover, this final alternative report affirms that decommissioning is a feasible option with zero risks to the Great Lakes and minimal economic impacts to Michigan customers (e.g., two cents more at the gas pump and roughly 10 to 25 cents more for propane in the Upper Peninsula). 
 
It is time for the state to reject the flawed study, exercise its affirmative legal duty as public trustee of the Great Lakes and bottomlands, and shut down Line 5. The state should use that authority to revoke the 1953 easement agreement that Enbridge has consistently violated.

The risk of a spill is too great to allow Line 5 to continue to operate in the Great Lakes. Our state government should not put the Great Lakes, our economy, health, drinking water, fisheries, and way of life at risk from a catastrophic oil spill any longer. In fact, on November 16, the Coast Guard Coast commandant testified again to Congress that his agency is not prepared to clean up a large-scale pipeline oil spill in the Great Lakes.

I urge you to act as public trustees of our waters and bottomlands, enforce the easement in light of Enbridge’s ongoing violations, and begin the process of decommissioning Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac to protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill. The State of Michigan has a legal duty to take this enforcement action. Enbridge’s ongoing violations cannot be remedied. It is time for the state to act decisively and with urgency.

Specifically, the report on alternatives to Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits:

  1. Fails to follow the recommendations and standards outlined in the Michigan Petroleum Pipeline Task Force Report, which resulted from a process created by the governor and co-chaired by the attorney general, and therefore cannot be used by the State of Michigan “in making decisions about the future of the Straits Pipelines.”
  2. Neglects to provide the state with an independent, fair analysis of the alternatives to Line 5 as required by the Task Force Report. This final report remains biased toward allowing Line 5 to continue to operate and/or allowing Enbridge to build new oil infrastructure in the Straits of Mackinac and further expand its operations. That bias grows out of past, and potentially future, business relationships between Enbridge and the report’s authors.
  3. Fails to analyze existing pipeline infrastructure as an alternative to Line 5 in the Straits, which the state required Dynamic Risk to analyze, and leaving it out conflicts with Task Force recommendation 3 (b). It is unacceptable that the contractor eliminated this alternative without any analysis. The 1953 easement granted with strict conditions by the state to Enbridge does not guarantee transport of 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and natural gas liquids. In fact, the 1953 MPSC Order states 300,000 bpd, which means Enbridge is currently operating Line 5 at 80 percent over design capacity. 
  4. Fails to analyze new evidence disclosed by Enbridge affecting the pipeline’s integrity, including external corrosion, 48 bare metal spots caused by the installation of screw anchors, compromised cathodic protection, and historic excessive pipeline spans greater than the 75-feet limit (including a 286-foot span that was unsupported for years), as required by the legal operating agreement with the State of Michigan. Dynamic Risk’s rationale, in part, is that "it would be inappropriate to speculate on any of the above aspects of the coating condition."
  5. Fails to consider tribal sovereign treaty rights and feedback on the basis that Dynamic Risk was not a party to tribal and state consultations, which is an unacceptable dismissal of input by a key stakeholder. 
  6. Grossly underestimates the total economic spill costs at between $147 million and $310 million, when Enbridge’s cleanup costs of its 2010 Line 6B pipeline oil spill along a 40-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River cost more than $1.2 billion.
  7. Overestimates an impact to propane supply, greatly exceeding what independent experts have determined would be necessary to provide the Upper Peninsula’s Rapid River facility with an alternative supply. The flawed report finds that up to 35 railcars per week or 15 truckloads per day would be necessary, while another study found it would take only one railcar or 3 - 4 truckloads per day to replace the Line 5 propane supply to the U.P.
  8. Continues to show an unfair bias towards building a tunneled pipeline in the Mackinac Straits. The report estimates a much lower cost for a tunnel than other estimates for this type of infrastructure; it fails to consider the risk of a spill to the Great Lakes, rivers and streams from other portions of the 64-year-old pipeline if the Straits portion were rebuilt. Dynamic Risk prefers new pipelines, which was evident when the firm aggressively promoted building a tunnel in its proposal to do this report, and its analysis is deeply flawed.

 

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Showing 3503 reactions

  • Sara Culver
    signed 2017-12-22 20:43:39 -0500
    No amount of oil or money is more precious than clean water. Water is life. Period. Our Great Lakes are sacred. There should not be any risk of fouling them with this Frankenstein of a pipeline.
  • carl schneider
    signed 2017-12-22 20:42:05 -0500
    Why do I have the feeling no ones going to do anything until there’s a oil spill in the Great Lakes?? Hmmm
  • Margo Czinski
    signed 2017-12-22 20:32:13 -0500
  • Carol Màass
    signed 2017-12-22 20:28:39 -0500
  • Tina Smith
    signed 2017-12-22 20:04:55 -0500
    It is so sad that the bottom line in corporate America is more important than the people or the future of this great country and it’s natural resources and the planet if you want to expand.
  • Susan Harris
    signed 2017-12-22 19:58:46 -0500
    They do not need to drill in the Great Lakes. We have enough oil
  • Linda Shafer
    signed via 2017-12-22 19:51:00 -0500
    Protect the Great Lakes! SHUTDOWN LINE 5!
  • Susan McEwan
    signed via 2017-12-22 19:49:53 -0500
    Protect our Great Lakes!
  • Elizabeth Meyers
    signed 2017-12-22 19:46:58 -0500
    No more avoiding this issue. Shut down line 5
  • Pamela Brown-gibney
    signed 2017-12-22 19:46:11 -0500
    Stop/Remove Line 5, NOW!!!!!
  • Christine Cantrell
    signed 2017-12-22 19:45:26 -0500
    Shut down Line 5 NOW!!
  • Richard Smith
    signed via 2017-12-22 19:36:14 -0500
    The Great Lakes need to be protected. It is much more important than the pipeline. The disaster of an oil leak has to be avoided.
  • Lina Waters
    signed 2017-12-22 19:31:41 -0500
  • Patricia Blake
    posted about this on Facebook 2017-12-22 19:31:05 -0500
    JOIN ME and tell the State of Michigan the only acceptable way to protect the Great Lakes is to SHUTDOWN LINE 5.
  • Patricia Blake
    @EePat tweeted link to this page. 2017-12-22 19:31:02 -0500
    JOIN ME and tell the State of Michigan the only acceptable way to protect the Great Lakes is to SHUTDOWN LINE 5. http://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/submit_your_line_5_comment?recruiter_id=56153
  • Patricia Blake
    signed via 2017-12-22 19:30:50 -0500
    Patricia D. Blake
  • Alec Cross
    signed via 2017-12-22 19:30:39 -0500
    We need to work hard at keeping these fresh water lakes clean, and all of our water from being polluted.
  • Jan Corey Arnett
    signed 2017-12-22 19:15:04 -0500
    To lie about the conditions of any means of transporting any toxic substance is to risk the well being of everyone on this entire planet because all things are connected. When the family and children and employees of Enbridge or any other so-called energy company get cancer, have untreatable disease and learning disabilities and mental health issues that tie back to contaminated WATERWATER, our LIFE-GIVING REQUIREMENT — who then will protect YOU Enbridge and all your cohorts in crime? The Great Lakes are our LIFE. Your lies spell death and money cannot save you or us.
  • Christian Latuszek
    signed 2017-12-22 18:52:01 -0500
    SAVE OUR GREAT LAKES! Shut down line 5!!!!
  • Matt Brzezinski
    signed 2017-12-22 18:49:33 -0500
  • Remi Bruell
    signed 2017-12-22 18:48:15 -0500
    Shut this down! It is doing nothing to help the environment whatsoever!
  • Jane Speer
    signed 2017-12-22 18:44:03 -0500
    I was deeply troubled, if not insulted and outraged, that Governor Snyder went ahead and negotiated an agreement with Enbridge Energy Partners several days after release of the final version of the Line 5 Independent Alternative Analysis Report and prior to any public comment period. I consider his action an attempt to gag the public and devalue any say we might have in protecting the Great Lakes.


    Regarding the final recommendations of the Dynamic Risk Alternative Analysis report, I believe that it is biased and narrow inscope. For example, the report states that it would be more expensive to decommission Line 5 than to build an oil tunnel under the Straits to house the pipeline. How does this make any kind of sense?


    The whole idea of building a tunnel is problematic for several reasons: (1) it ignores the feasible alternative of using existing pipeline infrastructure around the Great Lakes, (2) remains still vulnerable to spills because of corrosion and human error, and (3) contradicts Michigan’s legal policy against oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes.


    In conclusion, we should have made a decision on Line 5 this summer. We had plenty of technical and scientific analysis data to reference, for example, The Technical Update Note on Enbridge Energy Partners and Line 5, completed by Dr. Edward Timm (July – November, 2018) which clearly outlines Line 5’s potential for disaster.


    Instead of moving toward a plan to uphold the public trust by protecting our state’s most valuable resource, the governor has placed us right back into the untrustworthy hands of Enbridge.


    Enbridge is rewarded for their regulatory neglect while the people of Michigan face a disaster comparable to the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.


    Janet Fairchild

    Northeastern Michigan

    People for Social Justice Environmental

    Committee, Alpena, Michigan
  • Claire Donovan
    signed 2017-12-22 18:43:52 -0500
    Come on elected officials!!! The people of Michigan have spoken….again, again and again!! What will it take for you to listen…loss of position, an oil spill???DO THE RIGHT THING!! My vote hinges on what happens to this pipeline.
  • Catherine Daligga
    signed 2017-12-22 18:41:50 -0500
    Devastating environmental disasters don’t just happen, they are the result of either cutting corners for profit, or basing decisions on slanted and flawed studies like this one, designed to support a pre-ordained conclusion, regardless of the real risks, and of other more viable alternatives.
  • Gary Twardowski
    signed 2017-12-22 18:39:35 -0500
    Shut down line 5 NOW!
  • Marge Ferro
    signed 2017-12-22 18:36:06 -0500
    Prevent a Great Lakes catastrophe, close Line 5
  • Sandra Xenakis
    signed via 2017-12-22 18:14:21 -0500
    Line 5 is a disaster waiting to happen. The oil that runs through this old, fast deteriorating line doesn’t even benefit Michiganders. PLEASE shut down Line 5 NOW.
  • Ethyl Rivera
    signed 2017-12-22 18:03:31 -0500
    We are tired of the Governor, the Attorney General, the DEQ and others in Lansing flagrantly shirking their responsibilities to protect the public health and general welfare of the people of Michigan as expressed in the Constitution of Michigan. Constantly delaying, studying and making deals with Endbridge that do nothing but prolong the grossly unstable and fragile status of this pipeline.


    It is beyond time for shutting down this pipeline. It is your duty to the people of Michigan and our Great Lakes neighbors to not only consider, but to take the only safe alternative and SHUT IT DOWN NOW.
  • Lesley Miller
    signed 2017-12-22 18:02:22 -0500
    Decommissioning Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is the only alternative that will prevent an oil spill with catastrophic consequences for the Great Lakes and the State of Michigan. Shut down line 5.
  • Brian LaBatte
    signed 2017-12-22 17:59:22 -0500
    i Brian LaBatte say No to line 5.

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