Jennifer Casey introduced the guest speaker for the day, Jennifer McKay. Jennifer works with the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council as a Policy Specialist. She was here to speak about Michigan Pipelines. Specifically she focused on the No 5 Enbridge pipeline underwater at the Straits of Mackinaw.
There are 2.6 million miles of fuel pipelines crisscrossing the United States. Approximately 123,000 of that pipeline mileage is found in Michigan alone. In the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council’s service area, 281 miles of pipelines are buried beneath our feet.
Pipelines are considered the safest and most efficient way to transport oil and gas commodities. However, that does not mean they are without risk. A pipeline rupture would be devastating for Northern Michigan. It could result in contamination of our surface, ground, and drinking water supplies and death or disease of fish, aquatic insects, birds, and other wildlife.
Given the wealth of natural resources in our region, we must take every precaution to avert disaster as well as be prepared to respond if a spill should occur.
There are only two major crude oil pipelines in Northern Michigan. One is owned and operated by Enbridge Energy, Limited Partnership and the other by MarkWest Energy Partners.
Line 5 is a 645 mile petroleum pipeline owned and operated by Enbridge Energy. The line runs from Superior, Wisconsin, across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, through Northern Michigan, down to the thumb region, and over to Sarnia, Ontario. Line 5 is 30 inches in diameter, except when crossing the Straits of Mackinac, where it divides into two 20-inch diameter pipes. The line became operational in 1953 and carries approximately 540,000 barrels or 22.7 million gallons of light crude oil, synthetic crude, and natural gas liquids per day.
Water is the state’s most significant resource, with the Great Lakes containing one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water and providing drinking water to millions of Michigan residents.
Michigan is also home to approximately 123,000 miles of natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. Pipelines crossing Michigan’s rivers, streams, and Great Lakes put these resources at risk – threatening our health and economic viability.
Given our wealth of natural resources, we must ensure a high level of disaster preparedness and take every precaution to avert disaster. This is what the Watershed Council is doing to help improve pipeline safety and protect our valuable waterways.
With respect to Line 5, the Watershed Council is working towards the following goals:
- Obtaining results of in-line inspection reports to confirm the integrity of the pipeline
- Increasing emergency response capabilities including equipment, training, and personnel
- Having the State require an open, transparent, and public review process to re-evaluate provisions such as operations and maintenance and insurance liability
- Encouraging the development of a decommissioning plan
- Installing a generator or backup power supply for the Indian River shut off valves, so the valves can operate in the event of a power failure
- Increasing inspection frequencies, requiring annual or biannual internal/external inspections of the pipeline
- Implementation of all recommendations that come from the feasibility study commissioned to look at the benefits of additional leak detection and damage detection technologies in the Straits of Mackinac
- Improving transparency with dissemination of inspection documents to the public
- A study of how the synthetic crude being transported in Line 5 reacts in freshwater environments so first responders can be more prepared in the event of an emergency
- An economic analysis of a spill in the Straits of Mackinac
As there is continued growth in oil production in North America, more and more oil will be transported across Great Lakes waters. No method of transporting petroleum products can ever be completely safe and transporting greater volumes of oil will only serve to increase the risk to the Great Lakes ecosystem. The Watershed Council is working towards a day when no oil is transported in, on, or under the Great Lakes. Until that day comes, the Watershed Council will continue working on a variety of fronts including prevention measures, emergency response planning, education and outreach, and policy changes.
This was an in-depth and highly informative presentation.
Korvyn Hansen introduced our newest Rotarian Debra Allen, a transfer to our club, who is a two-time Paul Harris Fellow, a former Rotarian of the Year and the recent President of her former club in New Jersey. We welcome her. Please say hello to her in these next few weeks as she establishes herself.
While our little TC ride earned over $5000 (actually we were the second largest Indoor Riding Team in the world!!), the total worldwide effort was quite successful with over 
$14,000,000 in the bank.
Rotary Club of Traverse City
