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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It would seem that the  company Enbridge would be looking into changing out the old transfer piping installed in 1953 before it does spring a leak.     It's a pay now or pay big time later type thing .    New technology in materials has come a long way since then. Steel transfer pipe for crude oil and natural gas is still required in most applications but newer materials such as Duplex and Super Duplex steel piping have a lot better properties to prevent corrosion both in and out side. I doubt they had this in 1953.  We all should be concerned about our clean water whether it's in our back yard or across the state. The heads of state should be on this, not the City of Ludington. Our city should be taking care of our bayou, not the straights of Mackinaw.

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