Shut down the pipeline, Snyder has played 'let pretend nothing will happen' long enough.
The pipeline is caked with zebra mussels. The mussels are so thick they are probably the only thing preventing a leak right now.
July 15, 2015
By Detroit News Editorial Staff
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (click here) took a prudent step to protect the Great Lakes from an environmental disaster stemming from a break in the underwater pipelines carrying petroleum across the Straits of Mackinac.
The task force the attorney general heads recommends keeping the most dangerous crude oil out of the twin pipelines while allowing them to stay open for other products.
The Enbridge Energy Line 5 pipeline will not be permitted to move the heavy Alberta Tar Sands crude from Canada into the United States because that oil is so heavy it sinks in open water, making it very difficult to clean up.
None of the tar sands oil currently is in the pipelines, Schuette said, but inquiries have been made about using the conduit for that purpose.
Line 5 will continue to deliver other petroleum products crucial to the nation's economy, including light oils and liquified natural gas....
The Mackinew Straits is directly in the center of three major lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron. A rupture in that pipeline will set back conservation and restoration efforts by decades.
There is also a Canadian Lake, Georgian Bay, that has direct exposure to the pipeline and a break or leak would be devastating.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (click here) has made great progress in reversing the damage to the Great Lakes over decades. It would be completely wrong if the pipeline in the Mackinac Straits undid all the hard work since 2009. It is time the federal and international agencies and legal interests take over the debate and shut the pipeline down.
There are a few small conservation groups that differ with Michigan Sierra Club because it basically serves their best interest to continue the studies and monitoring. Enough. Shut down the pipeline and build a new one somewhere else. Just that simple.
This a good map, but, basically there are few political interests that treat the Great Lakes with respect. This proposed nuclear waste dump was from 2013. There are all kinds of dumping sites along the lakes including coal ash. Nobody respect the lakes and we are looking at fresh water at a time when this country's drought threat is considerable.
July 5, 2013
By Michael Leonardi
...The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station (click here) with its eight currently operating reactors is now the largest operating nuclear power plant in the world and 5th largest operating power producer of any kind. When all reactors are operating it produces 7,276 megawatts a year. It sits directly on the shores of the lake on a sprawling 2300 acre complex that is also home to the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF), an above ground interim waste storage area for the low level and intermediate level radioactive waste for all 20 of the nuclear reactors operated by Ontario Power Generation....
I am sure those that don't care about the lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway probably figure the leaking nuclear waste will kill the carp. Yeah, that and everything else.
It is estimated sports fishing alone contributes at least $4 billion per year in tourism. Commercial fisheries yield at least 65 million pounds of fish per year are harvested from the lakes, contributing more than $1 billion to the Great Lakes economy.
All this is going to be sacrificed for an old, decrepit pipeline? That's nuts.
The pipeline is caked with zebra mussels. The mussels are so thick they are probably the only thing preventing a leak right now.
July 15, 2015
By Detroit News Editorial Staff
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (click here) took a prudent step to protect the Great Lakes from an environmental disaster stemming from a break in the underwater pipelines carrying petroleum across the Straits of Mackinac.
The task force the attorney general heads recommends keeping the most dangerous crude oil out of the twin pipelines while allowing them to stay open for other products.
The Enbridge Energy Line 5 pipeline will not be permitted to move the heavy Alberta Tar Sands crude from Canada into the United States because that oil is so heavy it sinks in open water, making it very difficult to clean up.
None of the tar sands oil currently is in the pipelines, Schuette said, but inquiries have been made about using the conduit for that purpose.
Line 5 will continue to deliver other petroleum products crucial to the nation's economy, including light oils and liquified natural gas....
The Mackinew Straits is directly in the center of three major lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron. A rupture in that pipeline will set back conservation and restoration efforts by decades.
There is also a Canadian Lake, Georgian Bay, that has direct exposure to the pipeline and a break or leak would be devastating.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (click here) has made great progress in reversing the damage to the Great Lakes over decades. It would be completely wrong if the pipeline in the Mackinac Straits undid all the hard work since 2009. It is time the federal and international agencies and legal interests take over the debate and shut the pipeline down. There are a few small conservation groups that differ with Michigan Sierra Club because it basically serves their best interest to continue the studies and monitoring. Enough. Shut down the pipeline and build a new one somewhere else. Just that simple.
This a good map, but, basically there are few political interests that treat the Great Lakes with respect. This proposed nuclear waste dump was from 2013. There are all kinds of dumping sites along the lakes including coal ash. Nobody respect the lakes and we are looking at fresh water at a time when this country's drought threat is considerable.
 |
By Michael Leonardi
...The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station (click here) with its eight currently operating reactors is now the largest operating nuclear power plant in the world and 5th largest operating power producer of any kind. When all reactors are operating it produces 7,276 megawatts a year. It sits directly on the shores of the lake on a sprawling 2300 acre complex that is also home to the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF), an above ground interim waste storage area for the low level and intermediate level radioactive waste for all 20 of the nuclear reactors operated by Ontario Power Generation....
I am sure those that don't care about the lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway probably figure the leaking nuclear waste will kill the carp. Yeah, that and everything else.
It is estimated sports fishing alone contributes at least $4 billion per year in tourism. Commercial fisheries yield at least 65 million pounds of fish per year are harvested from the lakes, contributing more than $1 billion to the Great Lakes economy.
All this is going to be sacrificed for an old, decrepit pipeline? That's nuts.
