South Haven, Michigan – Lake Michigan by Mic Stolz

Web of Pipelines Put Wildlife, Communities at Risk

Despite major issues with pipeline safety regulations and safety regulators telling Enbridge their pipelines are not safe, Enbridge has been allowed to max out pipelines running in, around and through the Great Lakes, so they can increase profit and eventually feed international markets with tar sands. Some of the pipelines being pushed to their limits are 60 years old and run under the Great Lakes for miles!

New and existing tar sands pipelines threaten the Great Lakes. These Lakes are the economic backbone for surrounding states and the freshwater drinking source for millions.

However, Enbridge has finally hit a roadblock that requires public input for one of their lines crossing the U.S. and Canada border – known as Alberta Clipper or Line 67. Enbridge is required to obtain a presidential permit because they plan to greatly increase the amount of tar sands being imported. This permit opens up a door for public comment, which finally gives concerned citizens opportunity to have a voice and to become involved.

Stop Reckless Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion

Now is the time to stand up against these plans and tell the State Department that you strongly oppose Enbridge being allowed to expand their pipelines, which will bring the Great Lakes larger spills and more pollution from refining!

It is critical that we tell the State Department that we value our resources and communities over oil profits. The increased import of tar sands crude is not to benefit the Midwest or the U.S. – Enbridge has already started to pump tar sands south for export and has plans to do the same out east. This means that we are assuming an increased risk of much larger spills, pollution from refining and aiding in the development in Canada’s tar sands region – one of the biggest threats to our global climate.

Straits of Mackinac and location of Enbridge Line 5 – a 60 year old tar sands pipeline running below the surface of the water for almost 5 miles.

Tell the U.S. State Department you value the safety of wildlife, our resources and our communities over oil profits!

Exxon crews try to control and clean-up tar sands oil in Arkansas

Last week, the Exxon pipeline burst near Mayflower, Ark., flooding wetlands and neighborhoods with toxic tar sands dilbit. The pipeline is more than 70 years old and Exxon was recently fined for failing to perform regular maintenance on the line. Very little is known about what’s actually happening, but recent aerial footage has given light to a much bigger problem for this community and Exxon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

NWF has been saying for years that the oil industry is not applying lessons learned from the Enbridge tar sands disaster and this Exxon spill proves that point unbelievably:

• Exxon had to be told that their tar sands pipeline broke as a river of tar sands oil flowed in and around homes and wetlands. Exxon is still working to stop the flow of oil from reaching nearby Lake Conway, which also happens to be the water resources for the nearby communities. Similarly, Enbridge had to be told about their million gallon spill – that tar sands spill went unreported for almost 17 hours and impacted nearly 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River! A State of Emergency was issued by the governor of Michigan to bring in resources to prevent the oil from hitting Lake Michigan.
• Exxon seems to be grossly underestimating the amount of tar sands spilled: they originally reported only 80,000 gallons spilled, but now that figure is closer to 400,000 gallons. Judging by the photos and videos, I would guess the figure will continue to rise. Enbridge also underestimated the original spill amounts, which is still under debate to this day. Enbridge also estimated the clean-up would take weeks, which has now turning into years. This is the same story Exxon is selling to the media and their failure to face the facts continues to cause major delays in the cleanup, which will only continue to impact the communities and wildlife negatively.
• Because of these low spill figures, Exxon has been allowed to get away with a pathetic response and responders are not showing signs of using spill equipment that accounts for the fact that this oil will sink in the wetlands and water impacted. It took Enbridge months to admit that the tar sands heavy crude sank in the river and wetlands, and by that time all the damage had been done. Because response to tar sands spills is much harder and much more expansive, I am guessing that Exxon will continue to try and hide the facts. Enbridge and the EPA are still trying to figure out how to clean-up tar sands oil submerged in the Kalamazoo River.
• Wildlife response is incredibly lacking and continues to be limited by Exxon — due to their potential liability. One group that has stood up in the face of this disaster is Helping Arkansas Wildlife Kritters. We want to thank them for their leadership in response. However, it appears that an Exxon contractor will soon take over all wildlife response efforts. We hope that federal agencies will also step in to ensure that response is being handled properly. It took Enbridge nearly two weeks to have their wildlife center in full gear. In those two weeks, local rescues along the Kalamazoo River tried to take matters into their own hands, but were quickly shut down because Enbridge considered their wildlife response a liability. My heart breaks for the wildlife and people that continue to be impacted.
  

  Tar sands heavy crude, from an Exxon pipeline, overtakes an Arkansas creek

• Transparency is nowhere to be found – leaving impacted residents confused and angry. Exxon has evacuated between 20-40 families and I have a feeling the evacuation zone could increase. It is critical to get people and wildlife out of the impacted area as quickly as possible because the benzene (part of the diluents used to transport tar sands through pipelines) is at unsafe concentrations in the days immediately following a release. Benzene is considered a carcinogen. Enbridge had major delays, but ended up evacuating homes within a few hundred feet of the Kalamazoo River because exposure to the chemicals was a major concern. Because of confusion and delays in those evacuations, over 300 people reported having health issues related to exposure to the tar sands crude. Ultimately, Enbridge ended up buying around 150 homes from families living along the Kalamazoo River because contamination was so widespread.

For almost 3 years now, many people (including myself) have been fighting to try and get the oil industry, our regulators and lawmakers to pay attention to the lessons learned from the Enbridge Kalamazoo River disaster – so it never happens again. The Exxon spill proves (again) that the focus for oil companies and pipeline operators is only on profits and not on the safety of our communities, wildlife and resources. Enbridge has also argued that the Kalamazoo River disaster was a rare situation. With not even three years between this spill and the Enbridge spill, I think we can safely say this is a precursor for what’s to come if we continue to allow the tar sands industry to expand.

It is inexcusable that our regulators let Exxon operate this incredibly old pipeline to transport tar sands crude. It is inexcusable that our regulators and decision makers are allowing any tar sands pipeline projects to move forward without proper spill response plans. And it is inexcusable for our lawmakers not to demand safety over oil profits.

What will it take for us to change? Last week, the National Wildlife Federation, through the filing of a rulemaking petition, lead a coalition of concerned citizens and organizations by called for a moratorium on tar sands pipelines projects and expansions until the EPA and PHMSA create tar sands pipeline regulations that account for these issues – and many more. Please help support this effort by contacting those agencies and speaking up for wildlife and those impacted by this latest disaster.

NWF photo – rescued turtle covered in tar sands oil from the Kalamazoo River

The large problem for Enbridge is that they can’t hide from the real-life facts. Enbridge has the best (and worst) “study” right here in the Kalamazoo River, where they spilled around a million gallons of tar sands crude into Michigan waters. This spill has proven the exact opposite: tar sands oil sinks in fresh water! 

This is not a little white lie: the fact that tar sands oil sinks in water is one of the biggest problems facing the industry and pipeline operators, proving that any spill of any kind into water is devastating, toxic and impossible to clean-up. The hundreds of acres of submerged oil in the Kalamazoo River — that Enbridge can’t clean up — is case and point!

Steep Learning Curve for Tar Sands Spills

Michigan journalist Fritz Klug wrote about this very point almost two years ago:

“At minimum, we’re writing a chapter in the oil spill cleanup book on how to identify submerged oil,” [EPA incident commander Ralph] Dollhopf said. “We’re writing chapters on how it behaves once it does spill (and) how to recover it.”

What the EPA didn’t expect at the beginning of the spill last July was how much time they would spend extracting the heavier oil submerged in the bottom of the Kalamazoo River.

“In a situation where we don’t have to be concerned with submerged oil, then we clean up the oil on the surface and be done,” Dollhopf said.

This past fall, the EPA issued Enbridge another work order to address the hundreds of acres of submerged oil, but Enbridge is dismissing that order because they have no idea how to remove the oil from the bottom of the river without causing extreme habitat destruction.

When a tar sands pipeline spill occurs, all readily available equipment used to clean-up oil will only address oil floating on the surface of water. So, for any pipeline operator to say they know how to properly clean up tar sands crude — this is a flat out lie.

Again, this point is extremely important considering the flood of tar sands pipeline projects hitting the U.S.

Enbridge tries to control the migration of submerged oil at Marrow Lake, along the Kalamazoo River. EPA photo

Lawmakers in the Dark

Taking this a step further, the lack of acknowledgment by our decision makers and congressional members is a little shocking. Our leaders should be demanding that regulators and pipeline operators make immediate changes to spill response plans to address this very issue, and no tar sands pipelines should be expanded or constructed until issues like this are fully addressed. This should have been an outcry immediately following Enbridge’s spill — especially considering tar sands crude is already running through many pipelines that travel in and around the Great Lakes, which are the freshwater drinking source for millions or people and habitat for countless wildlife. 

In fact, many members of Congress are ignoring the facts and trying to streamline massive tar sands pipeline projects, like Keystone XL, which will expose millions to the risk of spills and drive development in Canada’s tar sands region, one of the biggest threats to our global climate.

We are allowing Enbridge to cover up the facts with propaganda, which will continue to allow the industry to expand plans for transporting tar sands oil through some of the most sensitive areas in the world.

Contact your lawmakers and tell them you are sick of industry distorting the facts, which continues to put our communities, resources and wildlife at risk.

Watch my personal story here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Enbridge oil spill gave me a first-hand look into just how dangerous it is to transport raw tar sands oil, and how difficult it is to clean up when it spills. Unfortunately, federal laws governing pipelines are inadequate in several respects, and states have not passed their own laws to fill in the gaps. Enbridge knew of safety problems with the pipeline years before the disaster and because of weak regulations and poor response plans, this spill went unreported for 17 hours.

Despite the very real threats to wildlife and our communities, Enbridge and other tar sands oil companies are forging ahead with plans to bring even more raw tar sands oil through the Midwest and the rest of the country—before needed regulations are adapted and proper accountability is met.

Right now, we have a critical opportunity to speak up against the expansion of tar sands pipelines and show decision makers and the media the widespread opposition to the risks that tar sands crude poses to wildlife and our communities. By attending events, writing a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper, and submitting comments online, you can make a big difference to protect wildlife from the dangers of tar sands oil.

Speak up to protect people and wildlife from toxic tar sands oil by urging President Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all.

Two Enbridge pipelines cross the Straits of Mackinac,under our lakes, just west of the Bridge, Photo: MDOT Mackinac Bridge

“This is a recipe for disaster,” said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the Great Lakes office of the National Wildlife Federation in Ann Arbor. “This toxic oil pipeline is 60 years old, runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac, and is operated by a company with a terrible record of spills and ruptures. Now they want to increase pressure and temperature in the line by pumping an additional 50,000 barrels—2.1 million gallons—per day. This is a BP oil spill scale catastrophe waiting to happen.”

Enbridge Energy has been responsible for more than 800 pipeline spills in the United States and Canada between 1999-2010, including the biggest inland oil spill in U.S. history, in which more than 1 million gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River.

Despite its shoddy safety record, Enbridge Energy is now trying to expand Line 5. This project is part of a system wide expansion that will have massive impacts throughout the entire Great Lakes region as Enbridge gears up to push incredible amounts of toxic tar sands oil through our waters to refineries that dot the lakes. In addition, that oil is not likely to stay here. Enbridge is also expanding their pipeline network east of Michigan to push tar sands oil to New England and possibly out for export through the Portland-Montreal pipeline.

This NWF map simulates a 3, 6 and 12 hour spill from line 5 based on Enbridge spill response plans, average current speeds and “worse case” discharge estimates.

There is very little known about the integrity of Line 5 because Enbridge, and agencies charged with pipeline oversight, refuse to provide the pubic maintenance records or inspection history. What we do know is that Enbridge’s emergency response plans for this location are abysmal. The overall line is nearly 60 years old and has had its fair share of spills. And there is no margin for error when it comes to preventing oil spills in the Great Lakes: the Lakes provide drinking water for 30 million people in the U.S. and Canada, support a $7 billion fishery, a $16 billion recreational boating economy and are the backbone of one of the world’s largest regional economies.

The report makes the following recommendations to address the sunken hazard of Enbridge’s Line 5:

• PHMSA should deny the proposed 50,000 barrels per day expansion of the Enbridge pumping rate. PHMSA has authority under a federal corrective action agreement to regulate Enbridge activities anywhere along the Lakehead system, which includes Line 5. The higher pressures, and possibly temperatures, in a 60-year old line are too great a risk to the Straits, one of the jewels of Michigan and the Great Lakes.
• Enbridge should be required to install additional response centers on either side of the Straits to speed their response to any spills or ruptures.
• The 60-year old pipeline should be replaced, but only to its current size. Michigan should not have even more oil running through the Great Lakes.
• The federal agency, PHMSA, should declare a moratorium on any new or expanded pipelines that transport a highly toxic form of crude—tar sands derived oil that contains diluted bitumen—until after the National Academy of Sciences completes an ongoing study on this type of crude and new regulations are promulgated.
• Passage of the proposed ballot measure to increase clean energy from utilities, Proposal 3, would reduce the diesel gasoline used to transport coal into the state and promote the type of technological innovation that increases fuel economy in vehicles and decreases the demand for gasoline.

Take action to stop dangerous tar sands pipelines projects.

If you want to reach out to PHMSA directly and let them know you want to stop Enbridge from being allowed to expand, you can email them: phmsa.hm-approvals@dot.gov or call: 202-366-4535

Photo: Linda Shafe, Battle Creek
Enbridge stockpiles pipelines for their expansion to Line 6B of the Lakehead system.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On July 18th, community members from across Michigan participated in the Lansing, Mich., We are the Kalamazoo Human Oil Spill event to memorialize two years passing since the largest and costliest inland oil spill in US history.

The tar sands spill occurred when a pipeline operated by Enbridge Inc., dumped approximately 1.2 million gallons of tar sands crude into a wetland that overflowed into the Kalamazoo River, contaminating nearly 40 miles of the watershed.

NWF photo: Human oil spill in Michigan’s Capital

People across Michigan are rightfully infuriated that the State of Michigan is even considering allowing Enbridge to expand its pipeline when the company hasn’t shown one iota of remorse or proper accountability for the worst inland oil spill in history. Enbridge needs to prove they can operate safely before the State of Michigan signs-off on their massive expansion plan.

Nic Clark, campaigns director of Michigan Clean Water Action explains:

Michigan can’t afford another Enbridge oil disaster, and expanding this pipeline is a distraction from our clean energy future. That’s why we support efforts to increase our state’s renewable energy standard to 25% by the year 2025. We need to stop exporting our money and jobs importing dirty fossil fuels from other states and the Middle East. The 25% by 2025 proposal will increase the amount of clean energy produced right here in Michigan.

Tar sands oil is more corrosive, dirtier, more prone to spills, and harder to clean up than conventional crude oil. Further, extracting and refining tar sands oil requires the destruction of forests in Canada and the use of massive amounts of energy and water.

“The process is catastrophic for our environment and will have an even more devastating impact by speeding up climate change. Citizens across North America are fed up with our reliance on such a dirty and dangerous fuel and the catastrophic impact it has on climate change”, said Rita Chapman, Clean Water Program Director at Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

“The youth of Michigan need our decision makers to help us protect Michigan’s great natural resources for future generations and help us create a more sustainable future that does not rely on dirty energy and sneaky corporations” said Liz Starke Coordinator of the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition.

Please join the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center for our River Walk next week to show our continued solidarity around opposition to tar sands oil in the Great Lakes. You can also RSVP to these events, take action against tar sands, and find many more events happening around the country at NWF’s Action Fund Action Center.

NWF photo – rescued turtle covered in tar sands oil from the Kalamazoo River

Enbridge was referring to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the July 2010, Marshall, Mich. spill. This tar sands spill killed an unknown number of wildlife, sickened communities and polluted nearly 40 miles of waterways—for generations to come.

Enbridge can no longer hide behind the unanswered questions and must now face the reality of having the largest inland tar sands oil spill in history. Not only do people want answers from Enbridge, but we also want solutions from the federal agency that oversees pipeline safety, the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

NTSB’s investigation revealed that Enbridge demonstrated gross negligence in maintaining their pipelines along with inept operators at their controls. All of this aided in the largest inland tar sands oil spills in history, which went undetected and unreported for nearly 17 hours. The disaster was made worse by Enbridge not having adequate response plans in place and not properly notifying first responders of possible issues on the line.

Not only did this investigation answer some of the most basic questions, it is also going to be the basis for many decisions about fines, penalties and even criminal actions towards Enbridge.

NTSB also revealed that Enbridge has had a detailed history of failure and continues to not act on that failure. Matt Nicholson, pipeline investigator with the federal safety board added this comment:

“Lessons are being lost” on Enbridge…

Despite the obvious failure and neglect, the State of Michigan and the federal government are allowing Enbridge Energy to build an additional pipeline along this decrepit pipeline, which will have the ability to triple the amount of tar sands oil flowing through the Great Lakes.

For the National Wildlife Federation, who has been on the ground responding to this disaster since the first few days, these basic needs and actions are clear and most urgent:

• Line 6B should not be in operation until all structural defects are repaired and Enbridge should not be allowed to build a new and larger pipeline alongside Line 6B.
  

  NWF photo: Tar sands oil in the Kalamazoo River, one year later.

• Enbridge should be required to run an integrity inspection on all operating pipelines within the US, by a third party.
• No tar sands pipelines should be approved for construction until the National Academy of Sciences has concluded a study on how transportation of diluted bitumen impacts current pipelines.
• Any pipeline operator transporting this product should be required to develop alternative response plans; taking into account the unique nature of the toxic heavy bitumen and the need for increased relationships with first responders.
• A thorough health study should be conducted on how a release of diluted bitumen impacts wildlife and human health—short and long term.
• Integrity management programs need to be overhauled and there needs to be increased oversight, on the part of PHMSA, during pipeline inspections and when reviewing emergency response plans.

To learn more about tar sands pipelines and ways to support alternative energy solutions, please visit NWF’s Action Fund Center.

PHMSA’s press statement noted:

“PHMSA’s investigation found multiple violations of its hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations related to integrity maintenance, failure to follow operation and management procedures, and reporting and operator qualification requirements. PHMSA issued its notice and proposed civil penalty to Enbridge in a Notice of Probable Violation.”

All of this happens while Enbridge is trying to double (and perhaps triple) the amount of tar sands oil that pumps through the very pipeline that burst two years ago.

Photo MI DEQ – Tar sands oiled Kalamazoo River by Enbridge Energy

Enbridge Waited 17 Hours After Spill to Shut Off Pipeline

PHMSA noted that 17 hours had passed since alarms warned Enbridge of an issue and they officially shut off Line 6B. Regardless of the alarms, Enbridge still had to be told, by a local utility, that a spill had occurred. In those 17 hours, Enbridge continued to try and pump more and more tar sands oil through their line as a way to override the alarms.

PHMSA also confirmed that Enbridge knew of large defects on the pipeline years before this incident occurred.

Does this sound like a company that should be allowed to operate a pipeline in one of the largest freshwater resources on earth, let alone be allowed to expand the very pipeline that burst?

For the past year, Enbridge has been using this disaster to manipulate the public and the State of Michigan into thinking they are replacing this line because they want to make it safer. This tactic is a bold-faced lie to the public impacted by the spill and to the regulators left to determine its future. Enbridge is in fact replacing Line 6B so that they can expand to pump even more tar sands oil through our state, the Great Lakes, and through our country—for export.

It is critical that our lawmakers and federal agencies understand what Enbridge is trying to do with this expansion and hold Enbridge 100% accountable for what has happened in Marshall, Mich.

To date, they have literally gotten away with killing hundreds of wildlife, putting people’s health at risk and destroying very sensitive habitat for years to come. While $3.7 million is the largest fine issued by PHMSA, it is merely a drop in the bucket compared to Enbridge’s bottom line, especially when you consider their future plans.

NWF photo – rescued turtle covered in tar sands oil from the Kalamazoo River

Regulators: Watch Enbridge Like a Hawk

The Michigan Public Service Commission should deny all permits put forward by Enbridge Energy, federal agencies need to review this project in its entirety, and the current line needs to be shut down until proper pipeline safety laws are developed that address how Enbridge was allowed to have a spill of this size. 

In addition, any other pipeline that Enbridge operates, including Line 5 that runs under the Straits of Mackinaw, needs to have a thorough investigation into its integrity (by a third party) before Enbridge is allowed to continue operation. Without a doubt, this company should not be allowed to expand any of their pipelines.

The Great Lakes are a treasure to Americans and the world. Congress has confirmed this by investing over $1 billion into restoration initiatives. We cannot afford to allow companies, like Enbridge Energy, to risk it all at their own discretion.

Keep checking Wildlife Promise for the latest on these developing issues and please speak out for wildlife impacted by tar sands development.

Kalamazoo River polluted with tar sands crude. NWF photo by Beth Wallace.

Agencies within the Unified Command hosted an invite-only media event to open the oiled Kalamazoo River to the public today.

I would love to say that I was shocked by this news, but the truth is that this behavior has become the norm when learning to live with one of the largest tar sands oil spills in history. No transparency, half truths and shut the public out.

On Tuesday morning, I received a call from a reporter in Canada that informed me that the oiled Kalamazoo river will soon be open for public use and a celebration was to take place on Thursday, June 21 to mark the occasion.

I was a little confused, to say the least, on how someone in Canada had learned of this event when people living in Michigan and along the river had not. Even the local media has been left in the dark on the details. Again, confused but not surprised.

After calling every person I can think of—from impacted community members to EPA officials involved in the clean up—not one person could provide more information. It took impacted community members Susan Connolly and Deb Miller making personal stops into the County Health Department offices to find more information. Even then, details were vague and it was made clear that the public is not welcome and only press will be invited.

According to Connolly:

“When I learned from a reporter in Canada that our state and federal government agencies and Enbridge would be reopening the Kalamazoo River it was disheartening. I immediately went in person to Enbridge Headquarters in Marshall, MI and was told by their PR Rep. Jason Manchum that he could not confirm or comment and I would have to speak to the county/state Health Department or EPA. I went to our County Health Department where Jim Rutherford said he could not confirm what portions of the river were going to be reopened. Yet, this morning, a press release detailed that 35 miles from Marshall to Galesburg will be open.”

“There are 390 areas of moderate- to heavy-oiled sediment that require remediation. Health reports are inaccurate or are still not issued to the public. Fish advisories remain. Studies on fish and invertebrates are not being performed. Human health is being ignored.”

All but one section of the river near Marrow Lake has been opened. Marrow Lake is almost 40 miles downriver from the rupture location and evidently that section of river is still heavily oiled due to submerged oil going undetected for months after the spill occurred. Clean-up and remediation along the impacted river will continue, even in the opened areas.

This spill was tar sands oil, which does not act like a conventional crude. Officials discovered that this type of oil, when released into the environment, will often start to sink rather than float. All conventional cleanup techniques only address oil that floats, so cleanup crews were shocked to discover large amounts of submerged oil on the bottom of the river.

Enbridge and responding officials have had to write the rulebook on how to deal with oil that has submerged into the river, and have recently said that they plan to leave oil because cleaning it up could further impact the ecosystem.

Submerged oil remains in the river but local health officials have said, through a faulted study, that coming into contact with that submerged oil poses no risk to long term human health. The National Wildlife Federation found that study to have missing information and therefore the conclusions incorrect.

I am extremely disappointed in the agencies involved in this response and their decision to continue to exclude the public at all levels, including when they are re-opening a river for the public.

If you want to become involved in tar sands pipeline issues, including how to help save wolves from being killed due to tar sands production, please visit the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund.

The Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks report top three locations at risk of a raw tar sands oil spill

This announcement comes nearly a week after NWF released a report warning that pipeline rules and regulations do not adequately protect the Great Lakes from spills.

For some time now the Great Lakes states have been one of the lead transporters for raw tar sands oil. This issue came to light after one of the largest tar sands inland oil spills in history, when Enbridge spilled approximately 1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed.

This disaster caused widespread environmental damage, health impacts, and baffled clean-up crews when officials discovered the oil sinks rather than floats – the spill is still being cleaned up today and a majority of the river remains closed.

Nearly two years later, before the investigation into the cause of that spill is complete, Enbridge has announced plans to expand the very pipeline that burst in Marshall, MI, to pump even more tar sands oil through the Great Lakes. 

Not only is the risk of disastrous pipeline spills going to increase, but the pollution from refining tar sands oil is also going to impact our health and ecosystems as Enbridge pumps this more corrosive and toxic oil to refineries that dot our waters. 

The hits don’t stop there. A large amount of the oil will not stay in Michigan, let alone the US. These projects have been advertised to investors as aiding in pushing large amounts of oil to the coasts for export. If the Michigan Public Service Commission approves the Line 6B expansion projects, the Great Lakes will be at the heart of the tar sands transportation debate, above Keystone XL and the Northern Gateway.

One major problem with these expansion projects is how Enbridge’s plans conveniently (for them) evolved through the permitting process. There appears to be no federal review of the entire replacement project despite this being an international pipeline. While federal law requires the US Department of State to approve maintenance activities at border crossings, Enbridge was apparently allowed to repair the pipeline that crosses into Canada under an existing permit.

Since that phase has been mostly completed, Enbridge has continued to put forth, piece-by-piece, projects labeled as “maintenance and rehabilitation.” These in fact replace a majority of the existing Line 6B with larger pipeline, which will eventually increase flow rates by almost double.

The pipeline that burst during the Enbridge tar sands oil spill in Michigan - July 2010

Instead, Enbridge has only been required to obtain approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission. This leaves major concerns and gaps in the review process, since the State of Michigan does not consider the long-term environmental impact of pipeline routes or the impact of tar sands oil on the environment.

The National Wildlife Federation is calling for an investigation into the entire project, asking the Michigan Public Service Commission to suspend any pending permits on Line 6B until the US Department of State reviews filings and determines if federal permitting should be required. 

Long Term: The Michigan State Legislature, Congress and the US Department of State need to review current rules and regulations for expanding international pipelines, such as Line 6B. These large-scale projects should not fall to the states, which in most cases require little environmental review.

Congress should also consider halting approval of any tar sands pipelines until: 

• The federal regulatory agency, PHMSA, completes the study on the corrosive nature of raw tar sands in conventional pipelines and those findings are applied to current regulations
• The investigation into the cause of the Enbridge 2010 Marshall tar sands oil spill is complete and recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board are considered
• All pipeline operators transporting raw tar sands develop alternative emergency response plans to address the irregular nature of the product.

• 

  Enbridge provides the public with wipes incase they come into contact with toxic tar sands oil

  

  Enbridge misinforms the public on the dangers of coming in contact with oil that has sunk in the Kalamazoo River