Spills on Aging Enbridge Pipeline Have Topped 1 Million Gallons: Report

"The analysis of federal pipeline safety data comes as politicians from both parties raise questions about Line 5 and a tribe has voted not to renew its easement."

"An aging pipeline that passes through a critical stretch of the Great Lakes region has had at least 29 leaks in its 64-year history—spilling more than 1 million gallons of oil and gas liquids, according to information released this week based on federal data.

The spills along Line 5, which range from 285,600 gallons to 8 gallons and span the years 1968 to 2015, illustrate a steady drumbeat of incidents. Environmentalists and a tribe that lives along the line say this checkered past lends credibility to the fear that accidents do happen—and that should an oil spill happen in the wrong place, it could result in catastrophe.

Line 5 carries as much as 540,000 barrels of fossil fuels each day from Superior, Wisconsin, through Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario, and is owned by Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge. It passes under the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet, which has provoked concerns that if the pipeline were to leak, it could contaminate the Great Lakes. Just last month, Enbridge acknowledged that the outer casing of underwater pipeline in that area had fallen off in 18 places."

Sabrina Shankman reports for InsideClimate News April 26, 2017.