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State must demand proof of Line 5 condition

Seeing is believing and we simply haven’t seen enough to trust Enbridge’s statements regarding Line 5 where it runs through the Great Lakes at the Straits of Mackinac.

For some reason, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality seems content to continue green-lighting the pipeline company’s applications to modify the 65-year-old twin oil pipelines despite substantial concerns over the company’s history of withholding information about the line’s condition.

Such apparent amnesia is quite concerning considering it has been only five months since Michigan regulators publicly chastised the company for downplaying the size and extent of damaged areas on the pipeline’s protective enamel coating. The disclosures reversed the company’s long-espoused contention that the pipes were in “great” shape.

In August, Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy described the damage as “two or three” areas and indicated one was “Band-Aid-sized.”

Those descriptions were flatly discredited in October when state regulators said they found evidence company officials since 2014 knew about at least eight spots where the protective coating was scraped from the line, all but one of them larger than 7 inches in diameter. And at least one of those wounds to the pipeline’s protective coating was inflicted by contractors installing anchors.

That’s why assertions related to MDEQ’s move to grant Enbridge permission to add 22 new anchors along the 4-mile stretch of submerged pipe should have us all scratching our heads.

The agreement the company struck with the state six decades ago requires the twin pipes be supported either by the lakebed or anchors at least every 75 feet. Duffy said those 22 new anchors will be installed “proactively” in areas where strong current may erode the lakebed and leave the pipes unsupported.

The move certainly sounds preemptive, but Michiganders have little reason to believe the rosy assertions from Enbridge representatives. Meanwhile, state officials don’t seem like they’re providing the type of vigorous oversight promised last fall when they released strong statements.

“The DEQ is going to take this revelation very seriously and will conduct a thorough assessment of the information to consider during our continued review of the permit application,” said MDEQ Director C. Heidi Grether in a statement released in October.

Yet the new permit continues to rely on the company to self-report problems with the pipeline’s condition.

Why should we suddenly trust statements and information released by company officials who less than six months ago seemed blindsided by their own reports detailing damage to the line’s coating?

The fact is, seeing is believing when it comes to Line 5 and Michiganders simply can’t afford any more blind trust.

The issue: State officials green-light more Line 5 anchors

Our view: MDEQ appears set to continue relying on Enbridge to self-regulate.

— Traverse City Record-Eagle

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