It will cost Enbridge Energy as much as $500 million dollars to move the Canadian company’s Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines 100 feet underground in the Straits of Mackinac, but spokesman Ryan Duffy says it’s an bill they’re willing to pay to keep the Great Lakes safe from any possible oil spill.
“We’re excited about this agreement because it really lays the foundation for the future,” said Duffy. “First of all, it puts protection of the Great Lakes at the forefront, so that’s the best part.”
Duffy tells Michigan’s Big Show that we’re likely a few years away from the pipeline being moved into the bedrock.
“We’re estimating it would be around seven to 10 years, but if things move faster through permitting, it could be done faster.”
Duffy says the tunnel will not only be in the bedrock 100 feet under the bottom of the Straits, but it will also be encased in a one-foot thick concrete wall all around. He says that reduces the risk of any oil getting into the water to “near zero.”
He adds they will also be making changes to the pipeline where it runs between Port Huron and Sarnia under the St. Clair River. The crude oil going through the lines comes from western Canada and goes to refineries across the border in Sarnia and to the Marathon refinery in Detroit, which Congressman Fred Upton notes is the largest gasoline supplier to the state.
