Three feedback sessions scheduled around state; public can comment online

November 24, 2017

LANSING – A final report that analyzes possible alternatives to Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P.’s Line 5 below the Straits of Mackinac is available to the public beginning today. The report can be found at the Michigan Petroleum Pipelines website.

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A 30-day public comment period on the report developed by independent contractor Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems, Inc. opens today. Comments can be submitted online at the Michigan Petroleum Pipelines website, by email through the website, or by mail sent to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Attn: Line 5 Alternatives Analysis, P.O. Box 30473, Lansing, MI 48909-7973.

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In addition to the comment period, three public feedback sessions have been scheduled -- in Metro Detroit, Traverse City and St. Ignace. This comment process is intended to ensure the informational basis for any future decision by the State of Michigan regarding Line 5 is robust and complete.

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While the final report was prepared independently by Dynamic Risk for the State, the work and judgment are the views of the contractor and not those of the State.

Below are details of the three public feedback sessions that are scheduled for early December. No formal presentation will be made at the sessions but representatives from the State will be present to hear comments:

• Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Taylor, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Heinz C. Prechter Educational and Performing Arts Center, Wayne County Community College District, Downriver Campus, 21000 Northline Road.

• Tuesday, Dec. 12, in St. Ignace, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Little Bear Arena & Community Center, 275 Marquette St.

• Wednesday, Dec. 13, in Traverse City, beginning at 6 p.m., West Bay Beach Holiday Inn Resort, Leelanau Banquet Rooms, 615 E. Front St.

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All three sessions are open to the public and all locations are handicap accessible. Speakers will be allowed three minutes to make comments on a first-come, first-served basis. Yielding time to another speaker will not be allowed. Speakers are asked to make comments at only one public session, to give everyone a chance to offer their thoughts.

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No weapons, noisemakers or signs will be allowed at the sessions. Large bags will be subject to search by security officers.

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There will also be a public comment period at the next quarterly meeting of the state’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board (PSAB). That meeting is from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Causeway Bay Lansing Hotel and Convention Center, Ballrooms F-J, 6820 S. Cedar St., Lansing.

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The State of Michigan in August 2016 commissioned two independent contractors to complete a separate alternatives analysis and risk analysis. Dynamic Risk was hired to do the alternatives analysis. The risk analysis, performed by a different independent contractor, was not completed after an apparent conflict of interest was discovered on the contractor’s study team. Dr. Guy Meadows of Michigan Technological University is in discussions with the State to put together a team of academic experts from colleges and universities to perform a new risk analysis.

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Line 5 is a 645-mile pipeline built in 1953 and runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Canada. It transports up to 540,000 barrels a day of light crude oil and natural gas liquids.