Thursday, March 24, 2016
Enbridge Must Release All Pipeline Safety
Documents for Risky “Line 5” in the Straits
Amid New Concerns About Great Lakes Safety, Groups Back State's
Demand For Immediate Transparency from Canadian Pipeline Giant
Media Contacts: Lynna Kaucheck 313-486-1356/lkaucheck@
Citizens groups today were sharply critical of Enbridge Energy’s failure to comply with demands by state officials to disclose information on the safety of Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.
In a March 11 letter to Enbridge, top state environmental officials and Attorney General Bill Schuette—citing “continuing concerns about potential risks” from the Straits pipelines—gave Enbridge 30 days to comply with their request for detailed information on the twin pipelines. The letter follows disclosures earlier this year by Enbridge of corrosion in the pipelines.
“Enbridge’s refusal to make pipeline safety inspection and other data publicly available raises serious questions that require answers that only Enbridge can provide,” said David Holtz, Chair of Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Executive Committee. “Enbridge needs to come clean on what they know and what they aren’t telling us about oil pipelines that pose a huge threat to the Great Lakes.”
In their letter to Enbridge, state officials demanded pipeline inspection, integrity, operating pressure and other information including the impact of invasive mussels that cover the pipelines. Inspection records from 2013 show corrosion in nine spots, but the documents release by Enbridge consisted of a summary. Other pipeline information previously shared with the state was of limited value because they were in read-only format. Schuette, along with Keith Creagh, interim director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and William Moritz, interim director of theMichigan Department of Natural Resources, asked for detailed pipeline inspection documents and videos along with the company’s own evaluations, assessments and reports on the pipelines.
According to the state’s March 11 letter, Enbridge has asserted that the pipeline information is protected from disclosure because of confidentiality and security. The state has challenged Enbridge’s claims.
“The public is entitled to know what Enbridge knows about the safety of those pipelines,” said Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director, FLOW. “Enbridge is going all around the state telling people that these pipelines are safe, that we shouldn’t worry about the risk of a pipeline rupture in the Great Lakes. But their refusal to release these pipeline safety documents speak much louder than their words.”
State officials noted that pipeline safety inspection and other data are critically important to assessing risks posed by the pipelines, something that a state pipeline safety advisory board is currently evaluating as part of a process that is also looking at the future of Line 5 in the Straits.
“Shutting down Line 5 is the only real option for protecting the Great Lakes,” said Lynna Kaucheck, Senior Organizer, Food & Water Watch. “It becomes clearer each and every day just how risky it is for us to be trusting Enbridge’s word on safety.”
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For a copy of the State of Michigan’s letter to Enbridge email david@davidholtz.org
