"Oil Spill, High Waves: a Great Lakes Disaster Scenario"

"Imagine an oil slick quickly growing through the Straits of Mackinac from a rupture of the 62-year-old, twin pipelines known as Line 5 traversing the bottom of where Lakes Michigan and Huron connect.

Now imagine oil spill response boats from the pipeline operator and U.S. Coast Guard moored at the docks, taking no action for hours, or even a day or more as the slick mixes and spreads in the often turbulent waves.

That scenario is a real possibility if a Line 5 spill were to occur in bad weather, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the pipeline owner's contracted spill responder."

Keith Matheny reports for the Detroit Free Press December 6, 2015.