#shutdownline5

[the-aila-test]

Boost to help fund the 5th Annual Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla #ShutDownLine5 #NoTunnel

From GoFundMe:

Line 5 is an aging old pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac. It carries light crude oil and natural gas, and is owned by the same company (Enbridge) that allowed the Kalamazoo River oil spill to occur. This pipeline poses too great of a risk to our Great Lakes. On August 31st, we will gather together to show legislators and our fellow citizens that we are taking a stand against Enbridge.  A flotilla is a large group of kayaks/kayaktivists demonstrating on the water for a cause, or calling for an action. Tribal jiimanns are invited. We will gather in a good way to create a flotilla to bring awareness to Line 5. If this pipeline breaks, it will devastate the pristine Waters of Lake Michigan for centuries. Many people are unaware of the danger that will completely change our way of life. #ShutDownLine5 #NoTunnel This event is being organized by volunteers. All funds raised will go towards event costs, and any amount helps. Thank you!

[patperry]

[shutdownline5]

Spills on Aging Enbridge Pipeline Have Topped 1 Million Gallons, Report Says

4/26/2017 - Inside Climate News

“In January, the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians voted not to renew easements that allowed the pipeline to pass through tribal lands in northern Wisconsin. The easements expired in 2013 and are typically needed for pipelines on native land.

Robert Blanchard, chairman of the Bad River Band, said that he hadn't known there were so many spills along Line 5, but that he wasn't surprised. "A line that's 64 years old, you're going to have some questions about that. Is it really as good as they say it is? I don't think so."

Blanchard said they have no intention of renewing the easement, and that they may end up in court defending their right to do so.

At the same time, state and national officials are pushing legislation to either shut the line down or review whether it is safe enough to continue operating.

On Jan. 12, U.S. Reps. Dave Trott (R-Mich.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) introduced legislation calling for a shutdown of the pipeline if a federal study determines it poses significant threat to the Great Lakes.

...

While politicians from both sides of the aisle raise questions about the pipeline's safety and its potential threat to the Great Lakes, the Trump administration has moved in a different direction. In an executive order issued on Jan. 24, President Trump ordered an expedited approval process for high priority infrastructure projects—including pipelines. And the administration's proposed budget would eliminate funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program that directs funds to various state and local environmental projects to protect and restore the lakes.“

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25042017/enbridge-pipeline-mackinac-line-5-michigan-oil-spill-risk

[bobvsuniverse]

I just asked @JoeBiden to

[valeriavidalmit]

via Twitter

[patperry]

EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION: Churchill, MB 58°45’37”N 94°5’11”W Full project/statement/photos: http://patperry.net/art/in-churchill

[krispride]

Yay! It’s not too windy to drone today! 😃 Did you know that the LINE 5 oil pipeline runs right through this park? 💦 #waterislife #shutdownLINE5

[shutdownline5]

Group finds more oil and gas spills from Enbridge’s Line 5 than previously thought

4/26/2017 - Midwest Energy News

“Duffy added that in the past 15 years, Enbridge counts “three incidents on Line 5 that have resulted in a total of approximately 21 barrels (882 gallons) of product being released off the mainline. All of the product released during these three incidents was recovered. There has never been an incident along Line 5 at the Straits.”

However, those figures are vastly different from what the National Wildlife Federation found. The group counted 14 incidents since 2002 totaling roughly 27,000 gallons released.

Responding to the difference in figures, Duffy said: “Any other releases in that time frame would have happened within our facilities. And when that happens nearly all of that product can be recovered and put back into the system.”

But Wallace said those releases “very much should be” included in the total amount of incidents.

“Pumping stations and other above ground equipment, along Line 5, would not be in operation without Line 5 and those parts of the system are as much of a risk to the public and our environment as the below ground equipment,” Wallace responded.”

http://midwestenergynews.com/2017/04/26/group-finds-more-oil-and-gas-spills-from-enbridges-line-5-than-previously-thought/

[shutdownline5]

Enbridge Line 5 has spilled at least 1.1M gallons in past 50 years

4/26/2017 - MLive

“The organization released the results of Wallace's research this week, estimating that Line 5, which runs from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ontario by way of Michigan, has spilled at least 1.13 million gallons of oil in 29 incidents since 1968.

The data comes from inspection records obtained by the NWF through the Freedom of Information Act and others put online recently by the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which Congress has required to make more information accessible to the public.

The NWF considers its estimate conservative because the research identified known spills, like a 1980 spill in Hiawatha National Forest, that weren't in federal records. Regulatory requirements during much of the 1980s stipulated Enbridge only had to report spills to the state, not the federal government.

Many incidents were related to construction mishaps. Others were caused by manufacturing defects in the pipe, such as stress cracking along a seam.

The most common theme was the method of spill discovery.

"Only one spill I could find was discovered by leak detection systems," said Wallace, a Pipeline Safety Trust board member who co-authored the NWF's 2012 "Sunken Hazard" report that helped galvanize scrutiny on the Line 5 section under the Straits of Mackinac.

Many of the spills incident records do not say how the leak was initially detected. The remainder were found by the public or Enbridge staff on the ground.

The NWF says that's a troubling reminder of the colossal failure that caused the Line 6B spill into the Kalamazoo River in 2010, when the company didn't notice the pipeline had ruptured until being alerted by an outside caller 17 hours later.”

All pipelines leak, from Enbridge’s mouth:

The group says the amount of manufacturing and construction defects and weld failures revealed by Wallace's research call into question the overall integrity of the Line 5 system.

"This newly-released data shows a worse history of spill and detection systems failing over time," said Mike Shriberg, NWF Great Lakes regional director, who also sits on the state of Michigan's Pipeline Safety Advisory Board.

...

The most recent spill is a small one, about 8 gallons, caused by an equipment failure on March 5, 2015 near Marenisco that Enbridge staff discovered while conducting a station review. The cause was recorded as a seal that failed due to "normal wear and tear."

Danger, danger:

“According to the data, the largest spills happened earlier in Line 5's history -- apart from a fairly well known 222,600-gallon oil and natural gas liquid spill near Crystal Falls in 1999, caused by the line lying on a rock, which forced the evacuation of about 500 people after responders ignited a vapor cloud that sparked a 36-hour long fire.

...

In 1972 near Iron River, a 252,000-gallon spill was caused by a longitudinal weld failure. A resulting fire injured two people.“

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/04/enbridge_line_5_spill_history.html

[shutdownline5]

Senator Rick Jones’ Senate Bill no. 292

3/30/2017 - introduced in Lansing

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2017-2018/billintroduced/Senate/pdf/2017-SIB-0292.pdf

It says NO NEW pipelines in the Great Lakes bottomlands; shut down any that are not safe! (cough, Line 5)

[shutdownline5]

Bill aimed at shutting down Line 5 introduced

4/3/2017 - Petoskey News

Jones offered similar legislation about a year ago, which calls for an amendment to the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act to stop future pipelines from running through the Great Lakes. It would also require operators of current oil pipelines to undergo a full risk analysis by a qualified independent third party and turn it into the state. If the preliminary analysis concludes that risks are high, the pipeline would be shut down immediately.

“I do not believe that it is a question of if the line will fail, but when,” Jones said. “A leak from the pipeline under the Straits would devastate the state’s thriving boating, fishing and tourism industries and wreak havoc on the health of the world’s largest collection of fresh water.

“I fully expect the analysis will determine that keeping Line 5 open is too high of a risk, and it will be forced to be decommissioned under the Straits.”

https://www.petoskeynews.com/featured-pnr/bill-aimed-at-shutting-down-line-introduced/article_0403aa48-3d55-5a3b-99f1-11ec8f2e6681.html

[shutdownline5]

Calls grow to shut down pipeline under Straits of Mackinac

5/26/2016 - Michigan Radio

"They say it would take 99 years for Lake Michigan to recover from a spill," Jones says. "Lake Huron perhaps 22 years, and then of course all the other lakes that we have. Forty million people use this for drinking water – and they cannot drink Canadian oil."

Jones says the oil that runs through the pipeline doesn't even benefit Michigan directly.

"This isn't going to Michigan refineries for the most part," says Jones. "It is simply taking a shortcut, through Michigan, through the Great Lakes, to get over to Sarnia where it can be refined. And perhaps they sell us some gasoline. However, there's no reason to run this through Michigan. They can run it through Ontario and get it to the refinery without endangering our Great Lakes.”

http://michiganradio.org/post/calls-grow-shut-down-pipeline-under-straits-mackinac

[shutdownline5]

Michigan residents to Lansing: We don’t trust you to do the basics

3/21/2017 - Bridge Magazine

“In 125 community conversations with about 2,650 people conducted from March through December in 2016, a strong majority reported “low” or “very low” level of trust in state government's handling of K-12 and higher education, services for low-income residents, and in the state’s ability to foster economic growth, protect public health or the environment.

“It doesn't matter who we get elected to represent us, because they're not there to represent us. I find it mind boggling to try to answer these questions in a calm way. It’s not possible because there’s too much sorrow and pain and expense in how we’re operating the state.” - Community Conversation participant “

http://www.bridgemi.com/public-sector/michigan-residents-lansing-we-dont-trust-you-do-basics

[shutdownline5]

State wants answers on condition of Mackinac pipeline

3/9/2017 - Detroit Free Press

“In a letter to Enbridge Vice President of U.S. Operations Brad Shamla on Wednesday, Schuette, along with DNR Director Keith Creagh and acting DEQ Director C. Heidi Grether, called on the company to provide detailed information on so-called holidays on Line 5 — an oil and gas industry term for areas on a pipeline where anti-corrosive coating is missing.

In an Enbridge-prepared report dated Sept. 27 of last year, the company proposed to conduct sampling to examine the impact of invasive zebra and quagga mussels, as well as impacts from other aquatic organisms, at various locations along the pipelines, including the "limited numbers of areas of the pipeline where there is a loss of coating around the pipe ('holidays')."

The "Biota Investigation Work Plan," compiled for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was a requirement of Enbridge's $177-million settlement with the U.S. government for the 2010 Line 6B oil pipeline spill into the Kalamazoo River — the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history, taking four years and more than $1 billion to clean up — and another 2010 spill in Illinois.

Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy told The Free Press last month that the report “works off some hypotheticals," adding,  “There’s not exposed pipe anywhere down there that we’ve ever seen, surveyed, anything like that.”

But the report not only refers to the areas missing covering as existing facts, it includes illustrations mapping where they are on the pipes, 19 areas Enbridge states it will test for corrosion.

In their letter to Enbridge, Schuette, Creagh and Grether also note that Enbridge's plan states it was prepared, in part, by "assessing video photography of the dual pipelines from 2014 and 2016 (underwater inspections)." A later portion of the plan states, "At each of the holiday areas where bare metal is exposed," cathodic protection of the pipe against corrosion will be recorded.”

...

“It's more than confusing, said Michigan Sierra Club Chairman David Holtz.

"Enbridge seems to be saying, 'Don't trust your lying eyes,'" he said.”

PLUS:

“The nonprofit National Wildlife Federation on Thursday released a report by retired Dow Chemical engineer Ed Timm finding that the currents under the Straits of Mackinac are nearly double the assumption used in 1952 to design the pipeline. Timm's report questions whether Line 5 inspections have historically been comprehensive enough and states his belief that evidence exists that the underwater pipelines are showing signs of fatigue.

Combined with the weight of tens of thousands of zebra and quagga mussels — which were not in the Great Lakes when the pipeline was designed — and sections of the pipeline that have not been supported as required by the state, Timm concludes that the pipeline may not be “fit for service," which is a requirement for pipeline operations.

"When Enbridge Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac was designed by Bechtel Inc., in 1953, the maximum current they expected it to be subjected to was 2.25 m.p.h.," Timm said. "Since 1991, four different measurements of the maximum current velocity in the vicinity of the pipeline have measured peak current events where the velocity is nearly twice this value.

"These peak current events have been calculated to apply enough force to the pipeline to permanently bend and fatigue exposed sections of the pipe. ... While I cannot prove conclusively that Line 5 is an imminent hazard because of these calculations, Enbridge certainly cannot prove there is not a problem here, and the line should be restricted until appropriate studies are done to get to the bottom of this subject."”

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/03/09/enbridge-straits-pipeline-coating/98965800/

[shutdownline5]

Thinking rationally about Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline

7/6/17 - Michigan Radio

“Enbridge Energy, the Calgary-based firm that owns them, believes they are perfectly safe, and last week, the state of Michigan released a report that said Line 5 could operate into the foreseeable future.

The report was done by a company with the curious name Dynamic Risk. Now, it’s nice to know that they think Line 5 is safe, but not especially reassuring. For one thing, Enbridge thought its oil pipeline near the Kalamazoo River was safe before six feet of it ruptured seven years ago this month.

The resulting spill took years and cost more than $1 billion to clean up. It’s also worth noting that when the spill set off alarm bells at Enbridge, workers didn’t realize at first that a pipe had broken. They thought it was only blocked, and to try to clear the pipe, they increased pressure and pumped more oil into the spill. Earlier this year, Senator Gary Peters told me he’d asked the Coast Guard whether they could deal with a Line 5 break.

The answer was no. Talking purely conservative common sense here, there is no way any sane government should tolerate something that could easily destroy two of the greatest lakes in the world.

[...]

The Dynamic Risk analysis they gave the state also presents several well-thought out safer options, complete with costs. We need to pick one. A major oil spill in the Great Lakes would be the one thing our environment and economy might never overcome.”

http://michiganradio.org/post/thinking-rationally-about-enbridges-line-5-pipeline

[shutdownline5]

Minn. oil pipeline fight stokes threats, fears of Standing Rock

7/5/2017 - MPR News

“Activists are pressing Minnesota officials now to deny the permit and kill the project. State officials and company executives working to head off a confrontation say they're doing more than ever to listen to the concerns of those in the pipeline's potential path.

That may not be enough to stop a confrontation.

"If that permit is issued, you can be sure you will have Standing Rock in Minnesota. I will tell you that," White Earth tribal member and Honor the Earth executive director Winona LaDuke said prior to one of 22 public meetings state regulators recently held across northern Minnesota.”

“Line 3 would travel through the ancestral land of several Ojibwe tribes, where they hunt, fish and most importantly gather wild rice, a central part of traditional diet and culture.

There are also significant differences, both in how the process for approving the pipelines has played out, and in efforts of the tribes, the state, and Enbridge to engage in that process.

In North Dakota, while the tribe did voice its concerns to the company building the pipeline early in the process, it did not engage in the 13-month public process, said Julie Fedorchak, a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner.

"There was just an awful lot of public input, unfortunately one of the entities that did not participate was the Standing Rock tribe," she said. "So we had no idea when the tribe came back after we approved it that they had any concerns at all."Contrast that with Line 3. Not only are Native American activist groups like Honor the Earth involved, but four tribal governments have formally intervened early in the proceedings.

"I think that's very important to establish the groundwork," said Joe Plummer, an attorney representing two of those tribes, the White Earth and Red Lake Nations.

The state is more involved, as well. State agencies did not adequately consult with tribes about the Sandpiper pipeline, Plummer said, a separate project that Enbridge ultimately dropped last year after it invested in the Dakota Access pipeline.

"Now all of a sudden, the Minnesota Department of Commerce has pulled almost 180 degrees from that earlier position and has reached out to the tribes," said Plummer. "Whether or not that will translate into meaningful action ... that remains to be seen. "”

“A big sticking point could be Enbridge's plan to decommission the existing Line 3, leave it in the ground, and build a new line along a different route, south of the existing pipeline corridor.

That's a non-starter for White Earth tribal member Bill Paulson. [...] If a new pipeline is to be built, he said, he wants the old line removed and cleaned up, and a new one put in its place. "I think that would be the bare minimum of anything that I would even consider being agreeable."

Enbridge argues that removing the old line would actually create more environmental and safety risks, because it's located only 10 to 15 feet away from other operating pipelines in the company's mainline corridor, which currently carries 2.9 million barrels of oil every day from Canada.”

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/07/05/minn-enbridge-pipeline-fight-stokes-standing-rock-fear