GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – The California oil spill that contaminated miles of coastline has rekindled concerns about the potential for an oil leak from Line 5, which passes under the Straits of Mackinac.
An anchoring impact is believed to have caused the spill in California and the pipeline crossing the Strait has already experienced anchoring impacts.
Daniel Macfarlane, Associate Professor at Western Michigan University Institute of Environment and Sustainability, fears that this will happen again.
“There were anchor strikes in 2018 and 2020, both of which struck Line 5. One damaged Line 5 and also spilled liquid from nearby electrical cables. So absolutely an anchor strike isn’t just a risk, it’s happened before, so it’s probably more a matter of time, ”Macfarlane said.
Enbridge, a Canadian company, also owns the pipeline that spilled oil into the Kalamazoo River in 2010. The disaster was the second largest inland oil spill in US history.
“With Line 6B in the Kalamazoo River, it was over a million gallons and it took Enbridge almost a day to find out there had even been a spill,” Macfarlane said.
Line 5 is much older than the California pipeline and Macfarlane says a major spill there would be even more catastrophic.
Macfarlane, who is Canadian, says the pipeline provides Michigan with very little power and little economic benefit.
“It’s basically about moving fossil fuels from Canada to another part of Canada with Michigan bearing the risk,” Macfarlane said.
Enbridge says it safely supplies energy through the pipeline to Canada’s two most populous provinces, as well as Michigan and some neighboring states.
Macfarlane says the location of the pipeline would mean an oil spill would flow quickly in several directions.
“A University of Michigan study a few years ago stated that up to 700 miles of coastline could be affected by a Line 5 oil spill,” Macfarlane said.
The company has applied for a permit to build a tunnel to house the pipeline, but two lawsuits are delaying it. One is challenging a 2018 decision to create a Straits of Mackinac Corridor Authority that would strike a deal on the tunnel. This was confirmed by the Court of Appeal but Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she intended to appeal again. Nessel’s second lawsuit seeks to overturn an easement where the pipe was built.