If you read a small snippet on page 2 of the weekend's City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews), you may have read that the city council is prepared to make a resolution in opposition to a crude oil pipeline that is at its nearest five counties away from ours.   

The COLDNews relates:  "Councilor Kathy Winczewski is a member of the group AFFEW (A Few Friends of the Environment of the World) and AFFEW President Julia Chambers said Winczewski has educated the council members about the pipeline and requested a vote on a resolution to oppose it.

The resolution states the twin pipes that cross the Straits of Mackinac under water are 64 years old and carry light crude oil and natural gas.

It also states that the Great Lakes contain 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water, which is used as a drinking source by more than 35 million people. 

The resolution also states that Enbridge Energy was responsible for a 2010 oil pipeline rupture that allowed almost 1 million gallons of oil to leak into the Kalamazoo River.

Since the state government has the authority to stop oil flowing through the Straits of Mackinac, the resolution calls for state and federal government officials to shut down  Line 5."

The full resolution is found on page 77 of the June 12 Council Packet and is shown below:

I found it rather odd that our city council would involve us in the debate over the Line 5 pipeline being that our own county's lakeshore has zero percent chance of being adversely affected by an oil or natural gas leak, even in the University of Michigan study.  But it had been a viable issue in the recent 101st District Michigan House seat election, with Republican Cut Vanderwall defending the conduit, Democrat Dan Scripps being dead set against it.  From Schools & pipelines, COLDNews 10-26-2016: 

The Enbridge Pipeline is a 63-year-old pipeline that runs through the straits of Mackinac — possibly one of the most pristine places on the planet,” Scripps said. “We know Line 5 has had numerous spills over the years, and I want to know what happens if that happens in the straits. It would devastate our Great Lakes fisheries.”

Scripps also voiced concerns about Enbridge’s history of spills, including one of the most expensive inland oil spills in U.S. history, which occurred in the Kalamazoo River in 2010.

Republican VanderWall, of Ludington, disagreed with rerouting or removing the pipeline.

“Line 5, as my opponent said, is probably a big difference between the two of us. Line 5 is the most inspected pipeline in the nation,” he said. “The economic impact of shutting down Line 5 would be massive.”

VanderWall agreed that protecting the Great Lakes ecosystem and fishery is important, however, and supports more transparency when it comes to inspections of the pipeline."

State government neophyte Vanderwall defeated Scripps (who had served as the district representative before losing to Ray Franz and is way more photogenic) easily in the 2016 election, with over 60% of the vote in Mason County.  It would seem that a super-majority of Mason County's population do not see the Line 5 debate as a very big issue.  Furthermore, even if they did, and every city, county, and township government in Michigan decided to send a resolution to the governor in support of Ludington's resolution, it wouldn't do anything more than illustrate why nothing will likely ever be done until the pipeline is found o be seriously degraded.

In the 2015 article Why Michigan won't shut down the Mackinac straits oil pipeline, the author reviews the various concerns different agencies and people have with Line 5, emphasizes some of those concerns have some legitimacy until coming to the conclusion, bolstered by the state's spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ):

"Despite all the "valid concerns" raised by those calling for a shutdown, task force report authors say doing so would involve the "significant and consequential action of attempting to halt an ongoing, otherwise apparently lawful business operation."

Legally, the state says it would need to obtain a court order for a shutdown by convincing a judge that 1) Enbridge has been in clear violation of the 1953 easement terms or other state laws, 2) There's an "imminent threat" the pipelines will fail and 3) That such a threat "outweighed any interest in Enbridge continuing to operate the pipeline."

A court order would be an "extraordinary action" against a line that isn't leaking.

"It's easy for an environmental group to call for it to be shut down based on the existence of an indeterminable future threat to the environment," said Brad Wurfel, spokesperson for the DEQ. The situational reality is a "heck of a lot more complex."

Economically speaking, Line 5 carries light crude oil that's eventually refined into gasoline and natural gas liquids such as propane that heats homes. Were the pipeline closed, the inherent risk would be relocated to another state or province and its contents rerouted onto railcars, semitrucks or tanker barges -- none of which have stellar safety records, Wurfel said."

Ergo, Ludington's resolution is an exercise in environmental futility, and barring any credible reports of pipeline degradation or other acts/incidents by Enbridge that would give question to their environmental stewardship, these pipes will continue to operate unchecked.  VanderWall is correct in that the pipeline's shutdown would be catastrophic.  Transporting these volumes of gas and crude oil from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario via other means would cost a lot more and almost inarguably be a lot more detrimental to the environment over a 64 year period. 

Sadly, our city council will undoubtedly get involved with this feel-good environmental issue in order to try and get the public's focus away from their own shoddy record in managing their own utilities and the city's environment. 

Consider the following:

1) In 2008, a 100 year rainstorm hit the area, wiped out the sewer line and the rest of Madison Street, washing the roadway and 15 million gallons of raw sewage into the PM Lake.  The City's response:  no resolution, no environmental cleanup of the sewage

2) In 2012, a November leak in the sewer systemsends 2 million gallons of raw sewage into the PM Lake and groundwater.  The city's response:  They fail to properly notify the DEQ and Health Department.  The city manager admits to bypass pumping this raw sewage into the lake at a council meeting.  No cleanup, and no resolution.

3) In April/May 2016, hydrogen sulfide smells coming from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)cripple the Fourth Ward and PM Township for weeks, the stink reaching as far as the downtown at times.   The city's response:  limited BODs from the local ice-cream factory, and put in a Band-Aid 'spray deodorant', resolving the issue, for now.

4) In 2016/2017, tried to tell us there was no lead in the city's water, and there was no lead pipes in the city system, despite high lead levels for many years found in our youngest kids' blood.  As Fourth Ward get's new water pipes, multiple lead goosenecks are unearthed.  City's response:  Councilor Winczewski dismissed the issue, lied about lead in fixtures being sold at local hardware stores, and lied about no lead being in the pipes even after City Manager Shay and Utility Maintenance superintendent said they were. 

The environmentally beleaguered Fourth Ward area had widespread contamination of the business-lined PM Bayou, with high levels of heavy metals and deadly organic compounds found in the sediment by a crew of technicians from the DEQ.  Instead of resolving to clean up the environment, the city leaders tried to cover-up the results.

Once our city council and AFFEW makes a resolution to fix these problems and others that affect our environment, meaningless symbolic moves like they will do on Monday will not erase the blemish their negligence has inflicted on Ludington citizens.

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I have tried to contact AFFEW several times via email and shout out via social media, all I ever heard were crickets..... Why they care about other things far away more then citizens in the 4th ward PM Bayou makes me wonder what their motive really is? Ludington should come first, right? SMH! Search DNR mapping and watch were the flow heads from this Bayou, right over your water intake!

Interesting article here, http://m.metrotimes.com/detroit/being-poisoned-by-poop/Content?oid=...

The report called The Watershed Moment is very telling, to add what if instead of run off it was a direct break that was never cleaned up? AFFEW, ideas, comments............

The EPA and DEQ have become less useful and resourceful as they have become more bureaucratic and autocratic.  I would like to see President Trump and our next governor reform the agencies back into what they once were and allow them to better enforce environmental rules against public utilities who fail the public.  Back in the '60s the problem was industry and business polluting, nowadays it seems to be the public sector polluting, and oftentimes nothing is done.

Waste of money, voice, media, and time from APEWW... Total hypocrites.
Irrelevant to protection of the environment. They only protect their shady nonexistent reputations. Disgrace to true environmentalists.

Whereas, like everyone locally knows, we have far more important local environmental contamination issues that Councilor Kathy should be attending to and concentrating on to get "resolved and cleaned up"! But, as seen here, her interests are on far away things that don't concern her, or AFFEW. Now be it resolved, that Gov. Snyder and other political ppl need to know about the same hypocrites now voting on this are totally ignoring our own local contamination, and have covered it up and ignored it for almost a decade now. The PM Bayou being the worst spill and hazard to the environment in my lifetime. Great article and comments X, this four part consider this part, should be read to city council for the record too, this Monday so the point gets noticed.  

You know that I don't like to give the city council advance notice of what my public comments will cover, but it's a good bet that part of it is over this topic. 

Sadly, our friends at AFFEW just ape the ultra-liberal environmental cause for the moment, and their only interest in local eco-issues amount to recycling batteries, taking a day or two to clean the beach each year, and go on invasive species scavenger hunts at Cartier Park.  A kIndergarten class could be trained to do as much. 

Earlier today, WOOD TV reported that the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline passed a Federally mandated pressure test of its segment under the Straits of Mackinac. 

Still no reports from the City of Ludington and their allies as to whether they have ever tested their municipal wastewater and water pipes in any manner.

In my opinion it was a huge mistake to install the pipeline in the waters of the Straits but now we have to live with it and find the safest methods for dealing with the situation. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start formulating plans to replace the Mackinac pipe with one that will have less impact on the environment if it should fail.

Maybe a nearby or even far away city can draft a resolution admonishing Ludington for their lack of action and the underhanded handling of the polluted bayou situation. After all if the silly Ludington city council can voice their opinion regarding the behavior of others then it only seems logical they should be treated the same.

This is an odd coincidence.  Earlier tonight, my E-mail bombardment of the Chicago City Council actually bore fruit when they passed the following resolution, much to my surprise.  Heaven help us all if the Ludington City Council formally recognizes this at their next meeting:   

Very funny X and so realistic.

It was discovered that the word 'vigilant' was misspelled with two ''l"s on the resolution in the last line, totally negating the efficacy of the full document, according to the Chicago city clerk.

Actually, it's a bit of satire playing off Willy's set up, a 'fake news' resolution made by the creative gremlins of the Ludington Torch.  We expect a full investigation by the LPD to figure out whose feelings we hurt this time.

The State of Michigan does not planning on shutting Line 5 down anytime soon, like the Ludington City Council voted to resolve, instead opting to make the conduit even safer while continuing operation indefinitely.

Michigan, Enbridge reach deal to boost safety of pipelines :  

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian oil transport company Enbridge Inc. announced an agreement [today] intended to boost the safety of twin oil pipelines beneath the waterway where Lakes Michigan and Huron converge.

The deal does not call for the decommissioning of Line 5 as environmental groups have demanded, although it does include a procedure for temporarily halting the flow of oil through the 5-mile-long underwater segment when storms cause sustained periods of high waves.

It also calls for a study to examine the possibility of digging a tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac through which the existing pipelines — or a new one — could be routed. The two 20-inch lines have lain on the lakebed since 1953.

It also calls for steps to allow faster detection of and quicker response to a potential spill.

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