FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 27, 2017
Media Contacts: Liz Kirkwood 570-872-4956/
liz@flowforwater.org
Anne Woiwode 517-974-2112/
tawoiwode@gmail.com
Key citizens groups leading the
campaign to protect the Great Lakes from an oil spill reacted to the
announcement of a new agreement by the state with Enbridge Energy Partners on
its controversial Line 5 oil pipelines by criticizing a key portion of the deal
that potentially allows Enbridge to continue operating in the Straits of
Mackinac.
“Nothing short of ending the flow of
oil through the Straits will protect the Great Lakes from a catastrophic
spill,” said Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director of FLOW.
“It’s remarkable given Enbridge’s pattern and practice of lying to the state
about Line 5’s condition that the governor is now trusting Enbridge to abide by
a new agreement. This puts the future of the Great Lakes in the hands of
Enbridge.”
Measures announced today by the
governor that would temporarily shut down Line 5 during some severe storm
events and implement more safety measures for the pipeline should be interim
measures taken until Line 5 is decommissioned by the state, the groups said.
“Putting in more technology to
ensure we find out sooner when Line 5 ruptures is not the same as protecting
the Great Lakes,” said Anne Woiwode, Conservation Chair for the Sierra
Club Michigan Chapter. “These are good steps but they are only
band-aids and we are concerned that instead of protecting the Great Lakes they
will be seen as permanent solutions. They are not.”
“Moreover, it is imprudent and
arbitrary for the Governor to unilaterally sign a deal with Enbridge before the
legal processes and evidence including the opinion of experts on all sides have
been thoroughly reviewed and completed,” said Jim Olson, environmental
attorney and President of FLOW. “Governor Snyder appears to have
prematurely ignored and violated his own executive order, law, rules and once
more ignored his public trust duties toward the Great Lakes, water, public
health and safety, and the protection of citizens.”
On Nov. 16 the Great Lakes Resource
Committee of Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), representing five
Michigan Native American tribes, came out in opposition to replacing Line 5 in
the Straits with a tunneled pipelines, saying it would not eliminate risks of
an oil spill in the Straits area waters within the boundaries of an 1836 treaty
protecting their fishing rights. CORA is comprised of representatives of the
Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band Of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians,
the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa
Indians and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
##
