Up North Progressive

While Enbridge Line 5 is shut down until the state can figure out what exactly is going on, Michigan DNR Director Daniel Eichinger followed up his July 17, 2020 letter to Enbridge with another letter on July 22, 2020. The new letter requested Enbridge’s parent company in Canada to put in writing an agreement to cover the costs of cleaning up the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge’s corporate business in Canada doesn’t directly do business in Michigan. They set up several subsidiary companies in the United States to handle their business in Michigan and other states. Enbridge Inc. insists that the American subsidiaries will handle any cleanup costs if a spill would occur. Considering the quality level of work completed for the Kalamazoo River after Enbridge Line 6B, it only seems reasonable that the DNR wants assurance that a spill in the Straits of Mackinac won’t be handled in the same fashion.

“If Enbridge Inc. is really committed to providing financial assurance to the people of Michigan, they’ll enter into a written agreement to that effect. We will continue working around the clock to get these pipelines that transport crude oil out of the Great Lakes as soon as possible. While we continue this work, Enbridge Inc. must provide full financial assurance to the people of Michigan that the company will meet its obligations in the event there is a spill or some other disastrous damage to the Great Lakes.”

In the Enbridge letter to the Michigan DNR dated July 20, 2020, Vice President of US Operations Mike Koby tells Mr. Eichinger that they are following all agreements dated 2018 in regards to the safety and upkeep of Enbridge Line 5. Koby states that $1.878 billion to cover any liability is a generous amount. The US subsidiary companies are “more than sufficient” to handle the costs of any spill in the Straits.

If you don’t remember the details of the aftermath of Enbridge’s US subsidiaries cleaning up Line 6B, it included $177 million in fines and settlements with the feds, buying up 148 homes on the Kalamazoo River, replacing 5 miles of damaged pipeline, spending $1.2 billion cleaning up the river, and after years of dredging there is still oil in the river that requires testing for years to come.

And Enbridge Inc. already wrote off the Straits of Mackinac for $1.878 billion, payable by their US Subsidiaries only.

Michigan needs written assurance from Enbridge the parent company will be responsible for all clean up in the Straits. Daniel Eichinger is doing the right thing insisting they provide in writing they are responsible for the cleanup. Enbridge needs to look at the total value of their company and think hard about whether it’s really worth it.