We work pretty hard here at the Line 6 Citizens’ Blog to keep our cool. It’s not always easy. Case in point: yesterday, we linked to a recent editorial piece by Doug Ross of the Times of Northwest Indiana. To be frank, the piece is so bad, so reliant upon Enbridge talking points (he appears to have taken almost everything he says from one of Enbridge’s brochures, like this one) , and demonstrates such an astonishing ignorance of even the most basic facts of the Line 6B “replacement” project and citizen concerns about it, that we could hardly believe a reputable paper would publish such a thing (and make no mistake about it, reporters at that paper have done some excellent work).

What doesn’t Doug Ross understand? Let’s take a look:

The most extraordinary thing about Ross’s op-ed is that there is no mention whatsoever of Marshall. Ross seems to think that Enbridge just one day decided to make an enormous capital investment in a new pipeline because they just care so much about safety. Here is what Ross says:

The company should be commended for recognizing the need for a new pipeline, to both minimize the danger of leaks and to increase the flow capacity.

Enbridge “should be commended for recognizing the need for a new pipeline”? Honestly, in the six months or so since we started reading, researching, documenting and discussing all things related to Line 6B, this has got to be the most extraordinary statement we’ve heard yet. Ross seems to be suggesting that the replacement project is some sort of preemptive action on the part of Enbridge, when in fact everybody knows– everybody, that is, except Doug Ross– that the ONLY reason Enbridge is replacing Line 6B is because in 2010 the old pipeline ruptured, spilling more than a million gallons of diluted bitumen into Talmadge Creek. Prior to that spill (frankly, it makes us angry to have to rehearse this yet again), Enbridge disregarded known defects in the pipe. Why? That’s not entirely clear, but one reasonable theory is that it’s because they did NOT want to make the sort of capital investment they would have had to make to repair those defects.

But what about after the spill– the most expensive inland spill, we would remind Doug Ross, in U.S. history? Did Enbridge then “recognize the need for a new pipeline”? Well, no, they did not. In fact, just two weeks after the spill, Enbridge sought permission from PHMSA to restart the line. And PHMSA denied their request, finding Enbridge’s plans for a safe restart inadequate. Soon after this, Enbridge began a number of “integrity digs” to replace or repair sections of the pipe here and there along the route (including in our neighborhood). It wasn’t until later, in August of 2011, that Enbridge applied to the Michigan Public Service Commission to “replace” the pipeline. Why? Well, Enbridge likes to say it’s because replacing it would mean fewer maintenance activities on the old pipe and less disruption to landowners (which may or may not be true)– a claim that Ross is all too happy to parrot: ” Installing a new pipeline means less maintenance, so there would be fewer disruptions to property owners,” Ross writes.

But more importantly, the real reason Enbridge decided to replace the pipeline had very little to do with landowner disruptions or safety and everything to do with making money. Here’s what Enbridge says in their application to the MPSC:

Enbridge has conducted numerous discussions and meetings with its shippers regarding their current and future transportation requirements on Line 6B. These discussions have played an important role in Enbridge’s decision to replace the remainder of the Line 6B pipeline segments because shippers have expressed a present need for additional pipeline capacity. However, with Line 6B expected to operate at pressures below the previous maximum operating pressure, the available pipeline capacity on Line 6B would be reduced. By replacing the remaining segments of Line 6B with new pipeline, Enbridge will be able to achieve the original ultimate capacity and also provide the pipeline capacity necessary to meet its shippers’ current transportation requirements.

What’s interesting here, however, is what Enbridge does NOT say. Why was the existing “Line 6B expected to operate at pressures below the previous maximum operating pressure”? Enbridge’s way of putting this makes it seem like that is a fact beyond anyone’s control, as if operating pressures just sort of ebb and flow like the tides. But the truth of the matter is that Enbridge was under a corrective order from PHMSA to reduce operating pressure. And why were they under that corrective order? Because the pipeline had just ruptured and spilled over a million gallons of diluted bitumen into Talmadge Creek!

So no, Enbridge ought NOT to be “be commended for recognizing the need for a new pipeline.” They were forced by circumstances–circumstances created by their own neglect and operational failures, according to the NTSB– and by financial exigencies to replace the pipeline. Had Marshall never happened, you can bet that there would be no replacement project.

Let’s consider some of Ross’s other claims. Ross says that “What has brought so much public attention to this project is the need to expand the easement through people’s yards and fields.” This is only partially true. Certainly the expansion of the easement is a (totally valid) concern for many landowners, one to which Ross appears not to have given much thought. In some cases, that easement is astonishingly close to people’s homes; in other cases, it will disrupt portions of people’s property– trees, gardens, and other spaces– that mean a great deal to homeowners. Yet even considering that, the real problem isn’t that Enbridge needs (or wants) additional easement rights. The problem is the way they’ve gone about acquiring those rights in so many cases: strong-arming landowners, negotiating in poor faith, misleading and misinforming people. Stories of bad behavior and bad faith dealings abound along the Line 6B route; we’ve documented many of them here (and heard dozens more that we have not written about).

What’s more, the additional easement is just one of the many things that “has brought so much public attention to this project.” There’s also Enbridge’s use (or taking) of additional temporary workspace, their flouting of local ordinances and state laws, their general litigiousness, their refusal to meet and talk with local municipalities (until forced to do so), their unfair and disrespectful treatment of landowners and local officials, their violations of construction agreements— all the things that we and others have been documenting for months. Has Doug Ross bothered to look into any of this? Did he have even one conversation with anyone other than Tom Hodge and Enbridge spokespersons before writing his editorial?

Oh, but there’s more. Ross also repeats Enbridge’s claim that “building the new pipeline will create more than 1,000 temporary and permanent jobs, which,” Ross says, is “a big plus in itself.”  Ross seems to think that these will be local jobs, even though Enbridge doesn’t even make that claim; instead, they just say, vaguely, that “Many workers will be drawn from the local workforce.” How many? It’s impossible to say. Enbridge can’t (or won’t) even say. They only speculate with the help of some mathematical magic. (Unscientifically, we can tell you that we’ve spoken to about 30 construction workers in our area and so far only 3 have been from Michigan.) At best, Enbridge’s claims of job creation and local economic benefits are unverifiable– and thus hardly a basis upon which to build a trenchant argument in support of the project– unless you’re as gullible as Doug Ross.

Two quick final points:

Cheerfully, Ross says that “This is a necessary project, and public input — which Enbridge has sought out and is receiving — is essential.” It is true that Enbridge has done a relatively good job seeking public input in Indiana with regard to Phase Two of the project. But it’s pretty clear to us up here in Phase One– where Enbridge did no such thing— that they’ve done so mainly because of all the push back and bad press they’ve received. In other words,  the public input they’ve sought in Indiana is, in part, just damage control.

Lastly, Ross says that the Line 6B project “is not the Keystone XL pipeline, but a smaller project with major economic and environmental potential,” which once again just goes to show how little he really knows about this. As one of the commenters to his op-ed notes, Line 6B is part of one of the largest crude pipeline systems in the country and will be transporting the same tar sands oil that has been the source of such concern about Keystone.

So what to take away from all of this? The point of this post is not really to argue that Doug Ross is wrong. After all, his version of this matter is so simplistic as to make that a moot point. As we have said countless times, we ourselves do not “oppose” the replacement of Line 6B. Rather, the point of this post is that Doug Ross doesn’t really know what he’s talking about. He does not appear to understand the history or the context of the project; he doesn’t show that he understands the range of concerns that reasonable people have about the project; and he seems not to have made the slightest attempt to verify or question in any way the claims made by Enbridge about the project. And yet, despite all of that, he still thinks he is in a position to make confident pronouncements about it.