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<a rel="nofollow" class="yiv4584092822moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/15/footage-of-tar-sands-pipelines-beneath-great-lakes/">http://ecowatch.com/2013/10/15/footage-of-tar-sands-pipelines-beneath-great-lakes/</a></div><div class="yiv4584092822moz-forward-container"><br></div><div class="yiv4584092822moz-forward-container"><br></div><div class="yiv4584092822moz-forward-container">Lulu<br>
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<h1>First-Ever Footage of Aging Tar Sands Pipelines Beneath Great
Lakes</h1>
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By Beth Wallace<br>
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<div>This past July, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) conducted a
diving expedition to obtain footage of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/Reports/Archive/2012/10-18-12-Sunken-Hazard.aspx">aging oil pipelines</a> strung across one of
the most sensitive locations in the Great Lakes, and possibly
the world: the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blog.nwf.org/2012/10/enbridge-threatens-freshwater-drinking-source-for-million-of-people/">Straits
of Mackinac</a>. Footage of these pipelines has never been
released to the public until now.</div>
<div id="yiv4584092822attachment_307921" class="yiv4584092822wp-caption yiv4584092822alignnone" style="width:650px;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/footage-of-tar-sands-pipelines-beneath-great-lakes/attachment/line5spill1/"><img class="yiv4584092822 yiv4584092822wp-image-307921" alt="Line5Spill1" src="cid:1.834333028@web142305.mail.bf1.yahoo.com" height="406" width="640"></a>
<div class="yiv4584092822wp-caption-text">This NWF map simulates a 3, 6 and 12
hour spill from the tar sands oil pipeline based on Enbridge
spill response plans, average current speeds and “worse case”
discharge estimates.</div>
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<div><br>
The Straits of Mackinac pipelines, owned by Enbridge Energy, are
60-years-old and considered one of the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/2013/Great%20Lakes%20Tar%20Sands%20Pipelines.aspx">greatest
threats</a> to the Great Lakes because of their age, location
and the hazardous products they transport—including <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.nwf.org/What-We-Do/Energy-and-Climate/Drilling-and-Mining/Tar-Sands/Michigan-Oil-Spill.aspx">tar sands derived oil</a>.</div>
<div><br>
For nearly two years, NWF has been pressing pipeline regulators
and Enbridge to release information about the integrity of these
pipelines, including inspection videos showing how the pipelines
cross the Straits of Mackinac. These requests have gone <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130911/exclusive-pipeline-safety-chief-says-his-regulatory-process-kind-dying">largely unanswered</a> from both Enbridge and
the Pipeline Hazards Safety Administration (PHMSA), who
regulates pipeline operations. Because Enbridge hastily moved
forward with plans to increase pressure on the aging pipelines,
and has <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blog.nwf.org/2013/07/starting-a-movement-in-the-great-lakes/">bypassed critical environmental permitting</a> for
changes in operation, NWF decided we needed to obtain our own:</div>
<div><br>
<a rel="nofollow" class="yiv4584092822moz-txt-link-freetext" target="_blank" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCMfDDcyRb0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCMfDDcyRb0</a><br>
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<div>The footage shows pipelines suspended over the lakebed, some
original supports broken away—indicating the presence of
corrosion—and some sections of the suspended pipelines covered
in large piles of unknown debris. This visual is evidence that
our decision makers need to step in and demand a release of
information from Enbridge and PHMSA.</div>
<div><br>
Heightening our concern around this pipeline and the company
that owns it: despite having cleared our dive work with the U.S.
Coast Guard, several Congressional members and Homeland
Security, our staff and the dive crew had uncomfortable
interactions with Enbridge representatives. As soon as our team
set out on the water, we were quickly accompanied by an Enbridge
crew that monitored our every move. This monitoring did not stop
at the surface: Enbridge also placed a Remote Operated Vehicle
(ROV) into the water to watch our team.</div>
<div><br>
These actions and our video have raised our level of concern for
the general operational behavior of this company and their
overall safety culture—including the way they treat the
concerned <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://grangehallpress.com/Enbridgeblog/">public living near their pipelines</a>. If
these aging pipelines rupture, the resulting oil slick would
cause irreversible damage to fish and wildlife, drinking water,
Lake Michigan beaches, Mackinac Island and our economy.</div>
<div><br>
To make matters worse, the recent <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/oil-gas-industry-wont-feel-much-pain-government-shutdown/">shutdown of our federal government</a> has
left communities and wildlife with an increased risk of oil
spills and failed response because pipeline safety and
responding agencies have been scaled back or closed all
together. The <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ecowatch.com/news/energy-news/pipeline-spews-20600-barrels-fracked-oil-government-shutdown/">recent oil spill in North Dakota</a>, of
approximately 800,000 gallons, is living proof.</div>
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