This Old Heart of Mine
The Straits of Mackinac span the heart of the Great Lakes region. Clean waters are its lifeblood. Maybe this sounds like a familiar song. But let’s give it a listen—it might prevent a heart attack.
The Line 5 Pipeline carries oil and natural gas across the floor of Lake Michigan, running just west and along the course of the Mackinac Bridge. Awareness of its presence has grown over the last several years, raising grave concerns for many thousands of our fellow Michigan citizens. Should this metal artery through northernmost Lake Michigan ever rupture, that breach would likely mean ecological devastation to the heart of our Great Lakes.
Recent events may serve as useful bellwethers. Early in April an anchor strike to Line 5 (and later a furious storm with 12-foot waves) prompted U.S. Senator Gary Peters to call on the pipeline’s owner, Enbridge, to shut down operations for the storm’s duration to lessen risks of a petrochemical spill. Earlier the same incident had caused a leak of over 600 gallons of toxic coolant and insulating fluid from electric cables owned by American Transmission Company (ATC) that lie adjacent to Line 5 in the Straits.
When I heard this news, I considered how much easier this problem would be resolved if we squarely faced two stern but inescapable truths. First, the half million or so barrels of Canadian crude oil products that pass through Line 5 each day are directed there by choice, not by necessity. The great majority of the product passes through Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas only to go back into Ontario for eventual consumption in Canada’s eastern provinces.
Secondly, a rupture in Line 5 at the Straits would be impossible to contain adequately—particularly under the ice. Remediation would prove both appallingly expensive and relatively ineffective when the “after” state of our Lakes’ ecosystem is later measured against the “before.” Additionally, Enbridge Corporation (owner of the Line 5 Pipeline) would not pay for this remediation, instead Michigan and other U.S. taxpayers would. Life and the natural world of the northern Great Lakes biome would change irrevocably.
Various findings as well as Enbridge’s own track record support such concerns:
• A 2014 University of Michigan study cited that, due to its strong bi-directional currents, the Straits area is the “worst possible place” for a Great Lakes oil spill to occur.
• Enbridge was responsible for over 1,200 reportable spills, leaks and releases from 1996 to 2013. Enbridge’s Line 6b pipeline ruptured near Kalamazoo in 2010, leaking close to 1 million gallons of tar sands oil for 17 hours before the line was shut down. This was one of the largest and costliest oil spills in U.S. history.
• In 2015 the Coast Guard’s Commandant testified before Congress, stating that the U.S. Coast Guard would be unable to respond effectively to an open-water oil spill in the heart of the Great Lakes.
• The twin 20-inch steel pipelines were built in 1953 to last 50 years; they are now 65 years old. Corrosion is the most common reason cited for petrochemical pipeline failures.
Our “blue economy” is simply too vital to place under threat of such risks. Our regional farming, fishing, shipping and heavy industries all depend on the Great Lakes’ health. Tourism and recreation contribute billions to the Michigan economy each year; 20 percent of Michigan jobs are linked to Great Lakes’ water quality and quantity. More than 1.5 million jobs were linked to the Great lakes in 2009, over a third of those in Michigan. And not to mention that the Great Lakes comprise one fifth of the world’s fresh available surface water, serving as the drinking water source for over 25 million people in the United States and Canada.
So, to quote an old song: “You don’t miss your water ‘til your well runs dry.” We must remember, above all, that water is life. Knowing this, how can we overstate these threats to our water? And all this coincides with citizens’ diminishing recourse to protect water.
The risk level seems intolerable in the wake of Flint’s lead-poisoning debacle. Who could have guessed that a budget-driven policy decision would result in destroying a large city’s public water supply? Or that many children in that city would suffer permanent brain damage? Another warning sign of “commons at risk” is illustrated by our State’s permissive posture toward Nestlé Corporation: The extraction of a seemingly endless volume of water, for the cost of a simple permit, to bottle in singleuse plastic containers, only to then be sold back to a compliant public, seems a cynical arrangement. These are issues that spotlight the conflicting motivations of private enterprise as against the rest of us as citizens, and they run counter to the public good. The irony of taxpayers being on the hook to pay for the ecological misdeeds of a small cadre of powerful enterprises should not be lost on any of us. Nor should the fact that two of the corporations in question are foreign-based multinationals, whose operations are effectively being subsidized by unwitting U.S. taxpayers.
So, now it’s time to stand up and be counted: To protect the heart of the Great Lakes, let’s act to decommission Line 5 before the inevitable oil spill finally occurs. As citizens in nature and vigilant stewards of our waters we can now all join in this rousing chorus:
“I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time… Because you’re mine, I walk the line.” Pass the word: The effort to decommission the Line 5 pipeline would be sped up most quickly by building greater citizen awareness of its existence and the threat that it poses. When EGT first realized that awareness building would be a key factor in helping hasten the decommission, we saw how our magazine could help directly. A year ago we joined the Great Lakes Business Network. We have been running the network’s ad in each issue as a public service announcement, and are committed to do so until the Line 5 Pipeline is rerouted or shut down. I mention this to highlight the GLBN’s efforts and to thank its members, who are all business owners and each doing their part to highlight the vital nature of our region’s “blue economy.” On an individual and more personal basis I hope that this discussion spurs more word-of-mouth communication and armtwisting of friends and family. After all, we’re foodies but we don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to rabble-rouse.
ALL RIGHT, ENOUGH PESSIMISM! JUST WHAT CAN WELL-INTENTIONED CITIZENS DO ABOUT LINE 5?
• Inform ourselves about what’s at stake and how we can protect the Lakes.
• Find a group that best suits our values and skill set and support it through financial donations or direct engagement in volunteer service (see list below).
• Contact our elected representatives to find their stand and express our views regarding Line 5 Pipeline.
ORGANIZATIONS SERVING TO PROTECT GREAT LAKES:
FLOW (For Love of Water)—a law and policy organization focusing on the public trust principles regarding our water commons: FlowForWater.org
Great Lakes Business Network—Member organization for business leaders to have a voice on critical Great Lakes issues: GLBusinessNetwork.com
Oil & Water Don’t Mix—For citizens to learn about Line 5 and how they can help protect the Great Lakes: OilAndWaterDontMix.org
Michigan Clean Water Campaign—A social movement empowering advocacy for lasting change through storytelling and music: MichiganCleanWater.org
