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Line 5 tunnel is wrong solution to problem

Lame ducks, Rick Snyder, Bill Schuette and their Republican-led legislature are rushing to finalize a half-baked deal with Canadian pipeline corporation Enbridge during the next three weeks.

This is a blatant, anti-democratic power grab right before our newly elected Democratic governor, Ms. Whitmer, and attorney general, Ms. Nessel, assume power.

Whitmer and Nessel both campaigned on shutting down this environmentally and economically risky oil pipeline and were just elected decisively by the people of our state. Michiganders voted for their message, that the risk-benefit ratio of this aging Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac was unacceptably high for the Great Lakes.

Voters agreed that their plan is the smartest, most efficient way to remove our state from the role of Enbridge’s potential victim of disastrous oil spills going forward. The will of the people is being ignored by the Republicans’ scheme that will allow business as usual with this 65-year-old oil pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac for the next decade!

The facts and signs that the Republicans are advancing a hasty, unwise and reckless plan here are multiple.

First, their idea that Mackinac Bridge Authority would be “perfect to own and operate a new tunnel pipeline beneath the Straits” had to be replaced this week with a snap of the fingers creation of a new separate “straits corridor authority” that Snyder will appoint.

This was because the MBA had voiced concerns that they were not properly consulted beforehand and did not want to assume this responsibility and liability for the state and taxpayers.

Second, the two 2018 studies of the costs of a worst-case oil spill in the Straits ranged from a low of $2 billion (Michigan Tech University) to a high of over $6 billion (Michigan State University) yet Enbridge is only required to “assure” $1.8 billion in funds for all potential oil spills with these geriatric pipelines over the next decade.

This is low ball, woefully inadequate, and the state taxpayers could still wind up with a serious financial hit with any spill as the new, whipped together “tunnel authority” would still have potential severe liability.

Third, our new governor and attorney general who assume responsibility in just three weeks have not been consulted or had any decision-making power in these schemes with Enbridge, despite the fact that these women will be responsible for the risk and cleaning up the mess that Snyder and his associates may be hastily enabling for our state.

Snyder and his minions, whose legacy will be “the water poisoners,” seem to have forgotten Enbridge’s last assault on our state and her water with their 2010 oil spill disaster into the Kalamazoo River that cost over $1 billion in clean up.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited gross negligence and incompetence by Enbridge as their control room ignored and disabled the automatic pipeline shutdowns and worsened the oil spill by increasing pipeline pressure pumping more and more oil into the river for 17 hours in attempts to clear what they diagnosed as just an airlock in the pipeline.

It’s well documented that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Enbridge doesn’t even need a computer hack of their system to turn their control room into a compounding disaster.

Snyder’s scheme to “improve” what almost everyone (except Enbridge) agrees is a very high-risk situation for the state is to dig a tunnel under the Straits over the next decade.

This will house a “24×7 open access” pipeline for Enbridge oil, paid for by Enbridge and exclusively used by Enbridge. This is the “ostrich with its head in the sand” plan, and a “lets cross our fingers for the next decade” plan. It’s also a compelling target for terrorism.

Security will be a serious and expensive problem for the state. This has to go on record as the weakest, most ill-conceived, one-sided, and reckless anti-Michigan deal ever made.

Michiganders voted to remove Line 5 from the Great Lakes, the sooner the better. The concern that the U.P. will be without necessary propane for heating is a specious argument. There are multiple potential options that could be explored to distribute propane to the U.P. to supply heating needs simultaneously with decommissioning Line 5.

We want our state to turn away from the fossil fuel industry, embrace renewables and demand the most vigilant protection for water, our most valuable resource.

I ask all our representatives to pause, suspend their “tunnel” vision on this deal and allow our new governor to present her plan to the Legislature in a few weeks. Why all the rush right now? Hasty decisions are seldom wise ones.

Editor’s note: Scott Emerson, MD, is a medical toxicologist and integrative medicine physician who resides in the Marquette area.

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