Author: US Army Corps of Engineers Detroit Group

Author Affiliation:

Publication:LRE-2010-00463-56-A19

Abstract:  See document

Author: Edward Timm, PhD, PE

Author Affiliation: Independent Investigator

Journal: Internet Published Technical Report; 3/5/2017

Abstract: The Straits of Mackinac is a four mile wide channel that connects Lakes Huron and Michigan. Resting on the bottom of the Straits is Enbridge Line 5, a twinned crude oil pipeline that was designed and constructed by Bechtel Corporation in 1953 for the Lakehead Pipeline Company. This was a unique engineering project at the time of construction and the designers attempted to account for the forces on unsupported sections of the pipe resulting from underwater currents. Recent research has shown the currents in the Straits of Mackinac to be stronger and more complex than originally contemplated by the designers of line 5. This paper reviews recent underwater current data for the Straits of Mackinac and draws conclusions about the implications of deficiencies in the original design basis for Line 5.

Authors: Claire L. Schelske, Eugene F. Stoermer, John E. Gannon and Mila S. Simmons

Author Affiliation: Great Lakes Research Division, University of Michigan

Journal: EPA, Ecological Research Series, Grant #R802721; October 1976

Abstract: Our nation's freshwaters are vital for all animals and plants, yet our diverse uses of water for recreation, food, energy, transportation, and industry physically and chemically alter lakes, rivers, and streams. Such alterations threaten terrestrial organisms , as well as those living in water.

The Environmental Research Laboratory in Duluth, Minnesota develops methods, conducts laboratory and field studies, and extrapolates research findings

—to determine how physical and chemical pollution affects aquatic life
—to assess the effects of ecosystems on pollutants
—to predict effects of pollutants on large lakes through use of models
—to measure bioaccumulation of pollutants in aquatic organisms that are consumed by other animals, including man

This report, part of our program on large lakes, details our findings in the Straits of Mackinac, that waterway connecting Lake Michigan and Lake
Huron.

Note: This is a 4 mb file, please be patient when downloading

Author: Keith Matheny

Author Affiliation: Detroit Free Press

Journal: Detroit Free Press; March 10, 2017

Abstract: In a letter to Enbridge Vice President of U.S. Operations Brad Shamla on Wednesday, Schuette, along with DNR Director Keith Creagh and acting DEQ Director C. Heidi Grether, called on the company to provide detailed information on so-called holidays on Line 5 — an oil and gas industry term for areas on a pipeline where anti-corrosive coating is missing.

The twin pipelines carry up to 23 million gallons per day of light crude oil and liquid natural gas through the Upper Peninsula, then south through the Lower Peninsula before reaching a hub in Sarnia, Ontario. The pipelines have been at the center of a years-long debate over whether they should continue to operate in the Straits, given the widespread impact a major oil spill from the lines would have on the Great Lakes and shoreline communities.

Authors: Jeff Alexander¹, Beth Wallace²

Author Affiliation: ¹J. Alexander Communications, ²National Wildlife Federation

Journal: National Wildlife Federation Report; 2012

Abstract: Just west of the Mackinac Bridge, below the water’s surface, lie two pipelines, called Line 5, that carry a total of 20 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas fluids each day from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario. The pipelines were placed in the Straits of Mackinac in 1953—the year President Dwight Eisenhower took office and one year before McDonald’s opened its first burger joint.

If either of those pipelines leaked, the resulting oil slick would likely devastate some of the lakes’ most bountiful fisheries, wildlife refuges, municipal drinking water supplies and one of the region’s most popular tourist attractions: Mackinac Island. A significant rupture would cause an Exxon-Valdez scale oil spill spreading through Lakes Huron and Michigan, the heart of the largest freshwater seas in the world.

Authors: Wayland Osgood, Deputy Director

Author Affiliation: State of Michigan, Conservation Commission

Journal: Executed Conveyance Easement (later acquired by Enbridge Energy); 4/23/1953

Abstract: The Conservation Commission was of the opinion that a proposed pipe line system under the Straits of Mackinac would be of benefit to all of the people of the State of Michigan and in furtherance of the public welfare in 1953.

For the sum of $2450, and a promise that the grantee "shall exercise the due care of a reasonably prudent person for the safety and welfare of all persons and of all public and private property, shall comply with all laws of the State of Michigan and of the Federal Government..."

The people of the State of Michigan are protected by "a Comprehensive Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability policy, bond or surety, in form and substance acceptable to Grantor in the sum or at least One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), covering the liability herein imposed upon Grantee."