Michigan task force seeks to ban heavy crude

OREANDA-NEWS. July 20, 2015. Michigan should ban the transport of heavy crude on Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline system which carries oil under the Straits of Mackinac on the Great Lakes, and study ways to possibly retire the line, a state task force said this week.

Moving oil sands crude though the pipeline at the point where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet "would present an unreasonable risk of harm to the environment and the economy," the group said in a report.

Enbridge said the point is a non-issue because it does not plan to carry heavy crude on Line 5, which currently moves light crude and NGLs.

Line 5, built in 1953, is a 645-mile (1,038km), 30-inch pipeline which runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. The line runs through Michigan and splits into two 20-inch parallel lines when it reaches the Straits of Mackinac. The task force was formed to study pipeline safety following a number of crude pipeline and rail accidents, including a July 2010 breach of Enbridge's Line 6B which spilled 19,500 bl of crude into the Kalamazoo river in Michigan.

The proposed ban on moving heavy crude on Line 5 could be accomplished by signing a legally binding agreement between Enbridge and the state of Michigan, according to the report. The state could also enforce the ban through the terms of Enbridge's 1953 easement which requires the company to "exercise the due care of a reasonably prudent person for the safety and welfare of all persons and of all public and private property," the task force said.

The task force also recommended that the state require Enbridge to pay for an independent analysis of the potential liability from a worst-case scenario spill. It also recommended conducting a study of alternatives to the Line 5 system, such as building pipelines that don't cross the open waters of the Great Lakes or moving crude by alternative methods.

Enbridge said it will review the report and work with the Michigan state government "to further understand the recommendations and the additional analysis that is being proposed."

Enbridge last month agreed to pay an additional \\$3.9mn to settle the damages from the 2010 Kalamazoo spill. Originally the company agreed to pay \\$58mn. Under the settlement deal, reached with federal, state and tribal officials, the money will pay for more restoration projects, reimburse damage assessment costs of federal and tribal trustees and support ongoing restoration planning activities.