April 24, 2017 Contact: Nancy Shiffler, (734) 971-1157, nshiffler@comcast.net
Columbus, OH --Energy Transfer’s
Rover pipeline had two major spills of drilling fluids into Ohio’s wetlands
last week, according to correspondence between the company and the
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Construction began on the project on in
mid-March 2017. On April 14th, 50,000 gallons of drilling fluids were spilled
into a wetland in Richland County, Mifflin Township. On April 13th, 2 million
gallons within a wetland adjacent to the Tuscarawas River in Stark County.
The Rover pipeline is proposed to
carry fracked gas across four states and will cross three major rivers: the
Maumee, Sandusky, and Portage, all of which feed into Lake Erie. In Michigan, the pipeline will pass through
Lenawee, Washtenaw, and Livingston Counties.
In addition to the Rover pipeline,
Energy Transfer is the company behind the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.
In
response, Sierra Club Michigan Beyond Gas and Oil Chair Nancy Shiffler released
the following statement:
“Construction just began just a few
weeks ago, yet Energy Transfer has already spilled more than 2 million gallons
of drilling fluids in two separate disasters, confirming our worst fears about
this dangerous pipeline before it has even gone into operation. We’ve always
said that it’s never a question of whether a pipeline accident will occur, but
rather a question of when. These disasters prove that the fossil fuel industry
is unable to even put a pipeline into use before it spills polluting fluids
into our precious waterways and recreation areas.
“Construction on the Rover pipeline
must be stopped immediately, as an investigation into Energy Transfer’s total
failure to adequately protect our wetlands and communities is conducted.
“In addition, the spills must
heighten scrutiny of the proposed Nexus pipeline, currently under consideration
at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the MDEQ. Our waterways, from wetlands to the Great
Lakes, are too precious to risk the impacts of additional spills and
contamination from these pipelines. ”
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About
the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is
America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization,
with more than 2.7 million members and supporters nationwide, with 80,000
members and supporters in Michigan. In addition to creating opportunities for
people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor
experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities,
protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots
activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information,
visit http://www.sierraclub.org.
