Title
Resolution from Environmental Commission Opposing Oil Transport Through the Enbridge Energy Line 5 Pipeline
Memorandum
The attached resolution from the Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council send a letter to Governor Snyder, Attorney General Schuette, State Representative Irwin, State Senator Warren and U.S. Senators Peters and Stabenow calling on them to take swift action to shut down Line 5
Staff
Submitted by Commissioner Muth
Body
WHEREAS, Line 5 is a set of twin, 62-year-old pipelines owned by Enbridge Energy that carry light crude oil and natural gas under the Straits of Mackinac; and
WHEREAS, according to a recent University of Michigan study, more than 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and over 17,000 square miles of open water in Lakes Michigan and Huron are potentially at risk from breaks in Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac; and
WHEREAS, the currents in the Straits of Mackinac at peak volumetric transport can be more than 10 times greater than the flow of Niagara Falls and switch bi-directionally from east to west; and
WHEREAS, the Great Lakes contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh, available, surface water and are a drinking water source for over 35 million people; and
WHEREAS, one out of every five jobs in Michigan is linked to the high quality and quantity of fresh water in the Great Lakes; and
WHEREAS, recreational tourism, agriculture, fisheries, shipping and industry depend on the health of the Great Lakes; and
WHEREAS, Enbridge Energy was responsible for the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history when Line 6b ruptured near Kalamazoo in 2010 allowing almost 1 million gallons of oil to leak into the Kalamazoo River for 17 hours before shutting down the line; and
WHEREAS, oil recovery in the Straits of Mackinac would be extremely difficult as evidenced by the Coast Guard Commandant testifying before Congress in 2015 that the Coast Guard would be unable to respond effectively to an open water oil spill in the heart of the Great Lakes; and
WHEREAS, as Michiganders we have a responsibility to be wise stewards of the waters of our state for generations to come; and
WHEREAS, protection of Michigan’s water supplies and resources is better accomplished by prevention of contamination and environmental degradation, rather than attempting to clean up contamination to restore degraded environments after the fact; and
WHEREAS, the state of Michigan has the authority to stop oil flowing through the Straits of Mackinac through an easement granted to Enbridge Energy in 1953;
RESOLVED, that the Ann Arbor Environmental Commission supports stopping the transportation of oil through the Straits of Mackinac through Enbridge Energy’s Line 5; and
RESOLVED, that the Ann Arbor Environmental Commission supports H.R. 182 and C.R. 15 calling on Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette to shut down Line 5’s transport of oil through the Straits of Mackinac; and
RESOLVED that the Ann Arbor Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council send a letter to Governor Snyder, Attorney General Schuette, State Representative Irwin, State Senator Warren and U.S. Senators Peters and Stabenow calling on them to take swift action to shut down Line 5.