Pipelines have been a hot topic in Michigan in the last few years. Very recent developments suggest the issue is intensifying. Canada’s Enbridge is part of a proposal to install about 600 miles of new, interstate natural gas pipelines, about 150 miles of which would run through Michigan. Besides arousing environmental concerns over a possible pipeline rupture, the proposal affects homeowners whose properties were not long ago disrupted by another Enbridge project.
Concerns have also grown recently about the company’s 61-year old oil pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac. Last week, a University of Michigan study explored several gloomy scenarios if that line broke.
Beth Wallace, a board member for the Pipeline Safety Trust, an organization that promotes pipeline safety "through education, advocacy, increased access to information and partnerships" joins us. Wallace is also a consultant to environmental groups on pipeline safety issues.