Up North Progressive

The Pere Marquette National Memorial will be revitalized in part from a donation made by Enbridge Energy Partners. The money will be used by the Michigan Historical Society to rebuild part of the memorial destroyed by fire in 2000.

The national memorial is dedicated to the memory of Father Jacques Marquette; he founded the first permanent European settlement in Michigan and explored west looking for the fabled Northwest Passage. The museum on the western side of the memorial will be restored after 15 years with the money donated by Enbridge.

Enbridge Community Relations Manager, Jason Manshum, commented on the donation to the state.

Enbridge has been part of Michigan life for more than 60 years, and we work hard to live up to that ‘good neighbor’ status in a variety of ways – economically, socially, and culturally.

Enbridge is committed to enriching the communities near our operations. We know that being a good neighbor means being essential to the fabric of the community. Helping jump-start the Father Marquette National Memorial at Straits State Park reflects what is truly important to us – the values of integrity, safety and respect.

In 2010, Michigan suffered the worst inland oil spill when Enbridge line 6B spilled a million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River. The clean up cost billions and the EPA made the company return to clean up more of the 35 mile spill the since the first disaster first happened. Concerns over Enbridge Line 5, which lies below the Mackinac Bridge in the Straits of Mackinac have grown since the Kalamazoo River Spill. The pipe was laid over 60 years ago. People are justifiably concerned if the aging pipe were to rupture, the ecological disaster to the waters of the straits would be far-reaching and impact hundreds of miles of shoreline in the Great Lakes.

If Enbridge wants to show they are truly committed to enriching communities, they can start by removing Enbridge Line 5 from the Straits permanently. That would be a revitalization project the community of the Straits would happily welcome from their ‘good neighbor’.