I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
State Rep. Gary McDowell, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan’s First District is asking state and federal regulators to take a close look at underwater oil pipeline work planned by Enbridge at the Mackinac Straits, which falls within his district.
Enbridge has requested a state permit to build underwater supports for the 57 year old pipeline which runs along the lake bottom between Michigan’s peninsulas. The company has stated that reinforcements are necessary to preserve the integrity and safety of the line which brings Canadian oil from Superior, Wisconsin across northern Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario.
“Enbridge has a history of negligence not just in Michigan but across its pipeline system in the Great Lakes region making it clear that state and federal regulators need to apply additional scrutiny as the company prepares to perform work on its pipeline through the Mackinac Straits,” McDowell said.
“An oil spill from a pipeline rupture through the Mackinac Straits could be devastating for the health of the Great Lakes and the thousands of jobs that rely on them,” he continued. “Regulators must take every possible precaution to prevent this from happening, including requiring Enbridge to stop oil flow through the section of pipeline running through the Straits while repairs are being performed.”
This week a coalition of state environmental groups urged the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources to review pipeline safety records, evaluate the work proposed by Enbridge and ensure adequate emergency response planning before approving work on the pipeline.
The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, West Michigan Environmental Action Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council and Sierra Club, Michigan Chapter urged regulators to make Enbridge drain oil from the pipeline before beginning work on it.
Enbridge’s northern Michigan has a capacity of 490,000 barrels per day, according to the company’s website and since the shutdown of the company’s southern Michigan pipeline, which spilled a million gallons of Cold Lake crude into the Kalamazoo River system in July, it is the only route for the company to move oil through Michigan.
MDNRE spokeswoman Marry Dettloff said that the state has until Dec. 24 to decide whether to approve Enrbidge’s permit application but could take additional time if it decides that it needs additional information.
According to Dettloff, Enbridge must also secure approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before beginning underwater work on the pipeline.
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