Citizens express concerns about Enbridge Line 5 at Michigan Pipeline Safety Board meeting

By Diane Miller*

Mary Jane and Larry Helvie, Roscommon area citizens, have been educating themselves and others about the dangers of  Enbridge's Line 5 under the Mackinac Straits and have been trying to get it shut down. "This is a no brainer," Larry said. Like many participants at the June 13 meeting of the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, the Helvies attend rallies with future generations in mind. Larry added, "If we don’t do it they’ll look at us and say, 'our parents left us a mess.'" (Photos by Diane Miller for Keweenaw Now, unless otherwise indicated.)

ROSCOMMON, Mich. -- When Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board met in Roscommon Monday, June 13, 2016, dozens of citizens showed up to express their concerns about the safety of Enbridge Line 5, which runs under the Straits of Mackinac. Everyone who spoke challenged the approach the board is taking.

Margaret Pierson and George Formicola traveled from Traverse City to attend the meeting. "Ever since the 2013 Rally at the straits," Pierson said, "I have not been able to sleep another night. Enbridge does not have a great track record."** Pierson is a volunteer with FLOW (For the Love of Water), who makes "almost daily" calls to government officials on this issue. "Although the governor [Rick Snyder] and [Attorney General Bill] Schuette said last July that the pipeline’s days are numbered, what we’re expecting is rhetoric -- more P.R. pieces and more task forces," Pierson noted.

The 16-member board, appointed by Governor Snyder last fall, is comprised of industry, environment, and citizen representatives.***
 
It was created, according to the Department of Environmental Quality website, to "ensure safety, upkeep, and transparency of issues related to the state’s network of pipelines" as well as to advise state agencies on "matters related to pipeline routing, construction, operation, and maintenance."

The June 13 meeting agenda featured a report from the board’s technical review team. It outlined the results of a request for proposals for two projects: a Risk Analysis, and an Analysis of Alternatives to the pipeline. The team recommended the Risk Analysis be awarded to DNV and the Alternative Analysis to Dynamic Risk.

Some board members express legal and ethical concerns

Board member Guy Meadows, director of the Great Lakes Research Center and Michigan Tech professor, raised two issues about the proposals, including the fact that the study of the pipeline’s risk is recommended to be done by a company "using the Gulf of Mexico as a model" for Great Lakes work, since both DNV and Dynamic Risk are companies that have done their work in oceans.

Guy Meadows, Pipeline Safety Advisory Board member and director of Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center, is pictured here with Michigan Tech's environmental monitoring buoy that was deployed on Aug. 18, 2015, in the Straits of Mackinac, just west of the Mackinac Bridge. The buoy is intended to provide real-time environmental monitoring of the water conditions and to improve safety for Enbridge's pipelines under the Straits. (Photo courtesy Guy Meadows of Michigan Tech University)

Meadows also noted the proposals fail to reference live time data that has been available via the buoy Michigan Tech deployed in the Straits last August to study the complex flows in the area of the pipeline.

"Modeling efforts should show this," Meadows said.

Board member Craig Hupp, noting that implementation of alternatives would take five to 10 years "at minimum" suggested that long-range data would be needed. Audience members later indicated that such a long time period is unacceptable

Pictured here at the June 13 meeting are Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board members, from left, John Quackenbush, chair, Michigan Public Service Commission; Craig Pierson, president of Marathon Pipe Line LLC; and Craig Hupp of Bodman PLC.

Board Member Jennifer McKay, policy specialist with the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, said that none of the proposals for this work emphasized public engagement (which is one of the stated charges of this board).

As a member of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, Jennifer McKay,  policy specialist with the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, represents environmental groups. 

"I saw no reference to public meetings in either of the proposals," McKay said, noting that the plans would not allow for ample comment time.  

Homer A. Mandoka, board member and Council Chairman of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, proposed that the exploration of proposals to assess risk and alternatives to the pipeline include an analysis of conflict of interest (both DNV and Dynamic Risk are involved in projects for Enbridge). Mandoka, who represents tribal governments, also said that the current plan does not have a direct process for consultation with the tribes.

Homer A. Mandoka, Pipeline Safety Advisory Board member and Council Chairman of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, whose ancestral tribal lands include the Kalamazoo River basin, the area of Enbridge's 2010 oil spill, represents tribal governments on the board. His tribe was an integral part of the Kalamazoo River cleanup.***

"I have raised this issue several times," Mandoka said.

Invited guest speaker Catherine Hollowell, Council Member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and member of the National Tribal Operation Caucus-EPA Region 5, spoke further on the legal need for an "articulated consultation policy with Native tribes."

Catherine Hollowell, Council Member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and member of the National Tribal Operation Caucus-EPA Region 5, was the invited guest speaker at the June 13 meeting of Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board.

Hollowell said, "Things that aren’t negotiated away in a treaty are retained. We have always had them, and the Federal government has affirmed that treaties are the supreme law of the land."

This means that "actual ways of life are protected," she explained. These ways include a protected right to fish and gather; and a risk assessment needs to include the consequences of a loss of traditional ecological knowledge in the event of an oil spill that ruins spawning grounds, for example.

Audience members speak up

During the June 13 meeting, Michigan Sierra Club Chair David Holtz makes several requests of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board. He asked that the state not compromise the risk and alternative analyses by having them funded by Enbridge. He said the state should be working with all available information in as close to real time as possible; and since it is not clear, in the case of limited liability corporations, who is responsible, or when a company can walk away, Enbridge should not be able to operate without a clear path to holding Enbridge responsible for environmental accidents.

Roger Gauthier, representing the Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, said that the proposal intends to study only four and a half miles despite the fact that the pipeline runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. He said that there are 60 different communities that have passed a resolution calling on Michigan’s governor to stop pipeline oil delivery through the Straits.****

Jim Olson, president of FLOW (For the Love of Water), reminded the board that government bodies have the duty to prevent and minimize harm to public health and that the decisions made regarding the pipeline could set a precedent for future environmental work. "You stand between the citizens and the government and Enbridge," he said. 

Liz Kirkwood, executive director of FLOW, cited the 1953 easement, which is "the legal basis for the existence of the pipeline." She said that Line 5 pipeline violations include the absence of supports, the curvature, wall thickness, and the degradation of the pipe, as well as the low value insurance policy on the structure. "The state must never subordinate the needs of its citizens to any private corporation," Kirkwood said. "Since a reasonably prudent person would not operate a pipeline in this condition, the need for action is urgent." She called for halting use of Line 5 as soon as possible.

Kate Madigan, Michigan Environmental Council representative, called for decommissioning the pipeline to protect the 700 miles of vulnerable coastline. Noting that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said 335 days ago that the pipeline’s days are numbered, she said it is time to end the culture of delay and inaction.
 

Leonard Page of Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment had two suggestions for the board: First, he said, a third-party study of the pipeline could be done this year instead of using the drawn-out process that is making many citizens impatient. "You’re 90 miles short of Ground Zero," Page said. He invited them to visit the Straits -- twice. First, on a beautiful weekend with 30-mile-per-hour winds and four-foot waves, and again in January or February. His point was that if a pipe failed in the winter, ice would make any pipe leak cleanup very complicated.

Tim O’Brien, co-chair of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board and associate director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said that the comments will be carefully considered. The board meets again in Lansing on Sept. 19, 2016.

Editor's Notes:

* Guest writer Diane Miller is a former Keweenaw resident and former Finlandia University communication professor. She now teaches at a community college downstate and attended the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board meeting as a reporter for Keweenaw Now.

**See Keweenaw Now's article on the 2013 Rally at the Straits, "Videos, photos: 'Oil and Water Don't Mix' rally draws hundreds concerned about Great Lakes."

***  Click here to see the original list of Pipeline Safety Advisory Board members appointed last September. Click here to read about the appointment of Homer A. Mandoka to the board as tribal government representative last November.

**** Click here to see the list of local governments and municipalities that have issued resolutions calling for the shutdown of the flow of oil in Line 5.

More Michigan Communities, Tribes pass resolutions to stop oil flowing through Enbridge’s Line 5 pipelines in Mackinac Straits

Sign displayed during the Sept. 6, 2015, protest against Line 5 at the Mackinac Bridge. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

CHARLEVOIX TOWNSHIP -- Charlevoix Township recently became the 25th community in Michigan to pass a resolution calling on Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette to stop the oil flowing through Enbridge’s 63-year-old Line 5 pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac.*

Four Indian tribes in Michigan and the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority that manages their fishery also support stopping the nearly 23 million gallons of oil flowing through Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits, which University of Michigan experts have called the "worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes."**

Dozens of organizations, hundreds of businesses, and thousands of individuals also support efforts by the Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign to prevent a catastrophic oil spill in the Great Lakes, which drive the Pure Michigan economy and provide drinking water to millions of people. Enbridge has a history of oil spills from Line 5 -- which runs from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ont., and is responsible for 2010’s million-gallon oil spill disaster into the Kalamazoo River.

In response to the 25th-community milestone, partners in the Oil and Water Don’t Mix Campaign issued the following statements:

"The passage of the resolution by Charlevoix Township is historic: Since the beginning of November, a total of 25 communities and four tribes  across the State of Michigan have taken action and called on Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette to stop the flow of oil in the Straits of Mackinac," said Mariah Urueta, Michigan Organizer for Food and Water Watch, noting that the resolution has passed easily in virtually every place it has been introduced.

Mariah Urueta of Food and Water Watch speaks against the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline during the Sept. 6, 2015, Pipe Out! Paddle protest at the Mackinac Bridge. Urueta helped organize the event with Food and Water Watch and tribal groups. At right is Aaron Payment, Tribal chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (representing himself as an Anishinaabe individual) who commented on the need for tribal representation on Michigan Governor Snyder's Task Force and Committee dealing with pipeline issues in the Great Lakes.***

"In addition, citizens are working with many more local governments to pass resolutions that support shutting down Line 5," Urueta added. "To anyone listening, the message is clear: Michiganders don’t want this pipeline to continue operating for another day. It poses too great a risk to the Great Lakes, our communities, and our economy. It’s time to shut down Line 5."

"We have attended countless community meetings in towns all across northern Michigan," said Joanne Cromley of Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment. "There is overwhelming support everywhere we go for stopping the flow of oil in Line 5 immediately. This is not a partisan issue. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are concerned about the threats posed by this 63-year-old pipeline owned by Enbridge, and we’ll keep working with local governments on resolutions until the governor or attorney general does right by the people of Michigan and shuts down Line 5."

"It’s been eight months since Attorney General Schuette said that Line 5’s 'days are numbered,' but the Great Lakes still remain at risk of a disastrous oil spill," said Kelly Thayer, a campaigner for FLOW (For Love of Water). "Communities have spoken out because they know that these dented, cracked, and rusted old pipelines won’t last forever. Today we again call on the governor and attorney general to take quick action and use their authority to shut down Line 5."

Editor's Notes:

* At present, 27 local governments are supporting shutting down Line 5. Some of their resolutions as well as a list of supporters among communities, tribes, business, and organizations can be viewed on the Oil and Water Don't Mix Web site. See more updates on the Oil and Water Don't Mix Facebook page.

** Click here for the list of tribal supporters and links to their resolutions.

*** See videos with statements by Urueta, Payment and others in our Sept. 30, 2015, article, "Two protests near Mackinac Bridge defend Native treaty rights, oppose UP mining projects and Enbridge Line 5: Videos, photos."

Treaty Awareness walkers continue through Michigan to Ohio and on to D.C.

Participants in the Treaty Awareness Walk arrive at the Capitol in Lansing on Oct. 6, 2015, on their way to Washington, D.C. (Photo © and courtesy Angeline OzhaashkweBiik Antoine)

LANSING -- The Treaty Awareness Walk from Rexton, Mich., to Lansing was a success. Walkers arrived in Lansing as scheduled on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and held a march near the Capitol building. Now they are continuing through Michigan to Ohio and on to Washington, D.C., where they hope to arrive on Nov. 6, 2015.

Participants in the Treaty Awareness Walk march near the Capitol Building in Lansing on Oct. 6, 2015. (Photo © and courtesy Angeline OzhaashkweBiik Antoine)

"Today (Saturday, Oct. 10) is the last leg of the Michigan route. Walkers will be heading south on M52 from Chelsea, Mich., to the Ohio border. They will be greeted by David Gaskin who, along with Joe Hock, will be walking the eagle staff to Washington DC. If you live near where they are walking PLEASE JOIN THEM! ‪#‎nomines‬ ‪#‎nograymont‬ ‪#‎shutdownline5‬ ‪#‎honorthetreaties," writes Angeline OzhaashkweBiik Antoine, who has shared her photos of the walk with Keweenaw Now.

Antoine noted the walk to Lansing was a success and attracted the attention of bystanders who were not previously aware of government land deals, such as the sale/exchange of 10,000 acres of Michigan public land to Graymont Mining Co., which Native Americans believe violates their treaty rights on ceded territory.

Amanda Nimke Ballard of Chelsea, Mich., carries the staff during the Oct. 6 Treaty Awareness Walk in Lansing. She has also provided lodging and transportation for the walkers in Chelsea, where they stopped before heading for Ohio today. (Photo © and courtesy Angeline OzhaashkweBiik Antoine)

"It was great to see so many different tribes represented at the march on Tuesday," Antoine said. "In all I have met people from eight different tribes on this walk. In doing this walk we not only wanted to bring awareness to Graymont and Line 5, but we also wanted to bring about unity between the tribes. We are all one people and the walk, the march, and the show of support has proven that."

Another participant in the walk, Darryl Brown of St. Ignace, Mich., writes, "Defending the treaties is an important way to protect the Water and Earth. The Treaty Awareness Walk created enthusiasm and inspiration to native people to be Idle No More and provided many ways for people to be involved. I pray it provides more action by bringing people together to stop the senseless destruction of the land and risk taking regarding the fresh water lakes in Michigan."

Click here to follow the Treaty Awareness Walk and see more photos on Facebook.

Visit treatyawareness.com to obtain more information or make a donation.

Food and Water Watch to hold Sept. 24 press conference to call for preventing oil spill in Straits of Mackinac

At Bridge View Park in St. Ignace, near the north end of the Mackinac Bridge (at right, background) concerned citizens at the July 14, 2013, Oil and Water Don't Mix rally against the Enbridge Pipeline (note sign: "60-year-old Time Bomb") listen as speakers, including Bill McKibben, 350.org founder, talk about the dangers of Enbridge's Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac. This Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, this same park will be the scene of a press conference/ protest to call attention once more to the dangers of an oil spill in the Straits. (Keweenaw Now file photo)*

ST. IGNACE, Mich. -- While Enbridge conducts an oil spill response drill in the Straits of Mackinac on Thursday, Sept. 24, Food and Water Watch -- a non-profit group that champions healthy food and clean water for all -- will hold a press conference to call attention to Enbridge’s shaky safety record. The group will unite with allies and concerned citizens near the Straits of Mackinac to call on Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 before the winter ice appears.

The press conference will take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, at Bridge View Park, Boulevard Drive, in St. Ignace.

Food and Water Watch warns that our state lawmakers need to be precautionary and not reactionary when it comes to protecting the Great Lakes.

During the Sept. 6, 2015, rally at the Mackinac Bridge near St. Ignace, protesters hold signs expressing concerns about Enbridge's Line 5 under the Straits. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)**

Line 5 is a 62-year-old oil and gas pipeline owned by Enbridge that runs under the Straits of Mackinac. According to a University of Michigan Study, the Straits are the "worst possible place" in the Great Lakes for a spill. Enbridge’s shaky track record includes one of the largest oil spills in U.S. history when roughly one million gallons of tar sands oil spilled near Kalamazoo in 2010. Of particular concern is that the U.S. Coast Guard testified before Congress this year and indicated that they wouldn’t be able to respond effectively to a spill in the Great Lakes. Further, Enbridge appears to have no plan for how to recover oil if a spill were to occur in the winter when the lakes are covered with ice.

Speakers at the event will be Lynna Kaucheck, Food and Water Watch; Aaron Payment, chair, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; Phil Parr, local business representative.

Aaron Payment, chair, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, speaks at a Sept. 6, 2015, press conference during the rally against Enbridge's Line 5 in Mackinaw City. Several Native American leaders spoke to the media about their concern for the Great Lakes. Payment will also speak at the Sept. 24 press conference to be held at Bridge View Park, St. Ignace. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)***

Participants are welcome to hold signs.

Following Payment's talk, Mariah Urueta of Food and Water Watch speaks at the Sept. 6, 2015, press conference during the rally against Enbridge's Line 5. Urueta said she helped organize this event. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)**

Driving directions to park:

- Go to the US 2 exit off I-75

- Go west of 75 for a quarter mile

- Turn south at the moose statue at Boulevard Dr.

- Go all the way down towards the water. The park will be on the left. There is a big entrance sign.

Food and Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. They help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to their homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.

Notes:

* See our July 22, 2013, article, "Videos, photos: 'Oil and Water Don't Mix' rally draws hundreds concerned about Great Lakes." 

** Watch for a story, coming soon, on the Sept. 6, 2015, protests at both the north and south ends of the Mackinac Bridge.

*** See video clips of Aaron Payment's talk about tribal opposition to Line 5 at a May 27, 2015, press conference on Mackinac Island in our June 17, 2015, article.