As state’s official comment period for Line 5 Alternatives Analysis closes, public demands immediate shutdown of oil pipelines in Straits
Oil & Water Don’t Mix announced it expects to submit more than 21,000 comments by a Friday deadline demanding Attorney General Bill Schuette shut down Line 5.
“The Alternatives Analysis downplays the massive risk and catastrophic impact of a Line 5 oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac, and Attorney General Schuette must act now to protect our Great Lakes,” said David Holtz, chair, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and campaign coordinator for Oil & Water Don’t Mix. “The overwhelming response delivered by more than 21,000 people who care about protecting the Great Lakes sends a clear message: Line 5 must be shut down immediately.”
Comment in support of decommissioning Line 5 included 10,356 signed postcards collected by Clean Water Action and other groups as well as 10,000 online comments collected by groups including Clean Water Action, For Love of Water (FLOW),Food & Water Watch, Michigan Environmental Council, Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council and Sierra Club. In addition, businesses supporting the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign called on their customers to submit comment, including Cherry Republic, HopCat and Patagonia. More than 250 businesses support the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign.
Last month, the State of Michigan held public feedback sessions across the state, where hundreds of Michigan residents attended to call for a Line 5 shutdown. Five of Gov. Snyder’s appointees to the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board signed a letter in July voicing concerns that the Alternatives Analysis was solely designed to support Enbridge’s interests.
“Responsibility for Line 5 falls on our elected leaders, and they must take full responsibility for the health of our Great Lakes by shutting down Line 5,” said Sean McBrearty of Clean Water Action. “Our Great Lakes are too precious to risk a catastrophic oil spill any longer, and the thousands of comments submitted by Michiganders should serve as a wake-up call to Bill Schuette.”
“The Alternatives Analysis was a missed opportunity to reveal to the public the dangers and risks of Line 5,” said Liz Kirkwood, director of FLOW. “The state should not waste any more time on this flawed alternatives study. Instead, it should conduct a thorough, independent analysis of the condition of Line 5 and immediately shut down the flow of oil through the pipelines in the meantime.”
- from OWDM press release; 8/3/2017