As longtime readers of this blog know, we think that the silence and inaction of Michigan’s elected officials at both the state and federal levels in the three years since the Marshall spill has been shameful. In fact, the seeming indifference of one prominent Michigan political figures was a large part of what caused us to start this blog in the first place. And the situation is even worse when one considers how other states and municipalities have responded to disasters like the one in Marshall. In Bellingham, Washington, they started the Pipeline Safety Trust. In San Bruno, California, the city filed suit against PHMSA and the state overhauled its Public Utilities Commission. In Mayflower, Arkansas a U.S. Representative has taken up the cause of affected residents. And in North Dakota, the governor is forming an advisory panel on pipeline safety. In Michigan after the Kalamazoo River spill? Nothing.
Sadly, Line 6B continues to be invisible to Michigan officials. Another Enbridge pipeline, however, finally has them taking some notice. You might recall that our friend Beth Wallace (hero) of the National Wildlife Federation has been working very hard to raise awareness of the threats to the Great Lakes posed by Enbridge’s Line 5 running beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Indeed, that danger was one of the topics we discussed with staffers on our trip this summer to Washington, D.C.
Well, finally, due in no small part (perhaps entirely!) to Beth’s efforts, Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow have sent a letter to PHMSA asking the agency to ensure that the line is safe. The Free Press has the story. The full letter is available here.
This is a good first step. We applaud Senators Stabenow and Levin for this effort. We’re still a little apprehensive– PHMSA doesn’t exactly move quickly. But this is nevertheless a heartening bit of news.
As a resident along the Kalamazoo River, and the 6B pipeline — very proud of the efforts of Beth Wallace and her team. For the record, the only elected official that stood by us throughout the early months of the spill, and worked hard to put a spotlight on the issue was Mark Schauer. He lost his seat in the election that Nov., and I believe it was because he championed this cause against un and under-regulated pipelines. You don’t cross swords with Big Oil/Gas/Coal in Michigan without significant fallout. He will have my vote and support in his bid for Governor.
There was also a push from somewhere in the White House to be careful about making new rules during the Election:
White House delayed enacting rules ahead of 2012 election to avoid controversy
http://m.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-delayed-enacting-rules-ahead-of-2012-election-to-avoid-controversy/2013/12/14/7885a494-561a-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html