LANSING, Michigan (Legal Newsline) — Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has announced the state will seek public input on proposal drafts from environmental and engineering experts completing risk and alternative studies on the Mackinac Straits pipeline known as Enbridge Energy’s Line 5.
The Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board advises the state on finding contractors to competently conduct two separate analysis projects. One deals with the risk of the pipelines and the other looks for alternatives to the pipelines.
“The risk analysis and alternatives analysis are two of the most important pieces in determining how quickly we can remove the pipeline currently running below the Straits of Mackinac,” Schuette said. “We would not allow this pipeline to be placed in the Great Lakes today, and its days are certainly numbered. The Great Lakes are Michigan’s crown jewel and we cannot tolerate an environmental disaster that would forever change them, so I am glad to have this process underway.”
Schuette served as co-chair of the Michigan petroleum pipeline task force, which sought independent reviews and risk analysis of the Mackinac Straits pipeline.