To the Journal editor:

If you want to know truth about the impact of shutting down Enbridge Line 5, ask your local propane company.

I need to respond Leonard Page’s letter to the editor on Sunday. I will start by saying that if Line 5 is leaking, shut it down. But it’s not, so talking about shutting it down without a plan is very irresponsible.

Mr. Page … says that only 2 percent of natural gas liquids that are transported through Line 5 are stripped off in Rapid River to make propane that is used in the UP. That “2 percent” may or may not be exactly true, but what he and others fail to tell you is that 2 percent equals 33 million gallons of propane. What he also neglects to mention is that there is another facility in downstate St. Clair that strips out NGL’s and makes it into over 120 million gallons of propane, also sold in Michigan.

As far as the 33 million gallons of propane that comes out of Rapid River, he says that it will only take “one rail car or 3 propane trucks per day” to make up for what is lost. A rail car holds about 30,000 gallons and a propane truck holds about 9,500 gallons.

When doing the math, remember that about 75 percent of propane is used (for heating) between the months of November and March. Does that sound like it works out to 2 or 3 trucks per day to you? Also, since we will have to drive at least three times as far to get the propane, triple the amount of trucks needed. One more small detail. Those extra trucks or rail facilities don’t even exist right now.

If you want to know how important Line 5 is to the propane users in the U.P., I suggest asking your local propane company, not the websites or the vice chairman of one of the environmental groups that are trying to shut it down no matter the consequences to Michigan propane users.

Sincerely,