Oil Pipelines in the Great Lakes, Threats and Solutions-Wallace, 2012
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Did you know there is a massive 60-year-old oil pipeline running under Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, along the Straits of Mackinac? Did you know that up to 20 million gallons of oil travels through that pipeline a day and the operators have plans to expand the capacity without making significant updates? You might also be surprised to learn that most of the oil traveling through our pipelines comes from the Alberta tar sands. This panel will explain the issues and the regulatory framework governing oil pipelines as well as provide recommendations on ways we can safeguard our lakes from spills.
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Oil Pipelines in the Great Lakes, Threats and Solutions-Wallace, 2012
- 1. Beth Wallace wallaceb@nwf.org 734.887.7134 Great Lakes Regional Center, National Wildlife Federation - Enbridge oil spill update, Kalamazoo River tar sands spill – - Pipelines in the Great Lakes – - Pipelines Rules and Regulations - - Proposed Pipelines - - Involvement and Recommendations – Tweet questions: #GLPipelineSafety
- 5. July 15th, 2010 Congressional Committee Hearing regarding safety violations: Enbridge officials testified that the company was able to detect a leak “almost instantaneously” after it occurred.
- 6. Timeline July 25th, 2010 • 5:56 p.m. Officials at Enbridge Energy’s Edmonton, Alberta control center effect a shut down of Lakehead Pipeline 6B. The shut down was previously scheduled for routine upkeep of the line. (NTSB, Schauer) • 5:58 p.m. Officials at Enbridge Energy’s Edmonton, Alberta control center receive an alarm that pressure has dropped in line 6B. The Marshall pumping station goes into shut down. (NTSB, Schauer) • 9:26 p.m. The first of what will become numerous phone calls comes into the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority reporting a dense smell of natural gas. (911 logs, Schauer, NTSB) • 9:27 p.m. City of Marshall firefighters are dispatched to investigate the gas smell. (911 logs) the call is cleared because they were unable to find a source It is important to note that 911 calls continued through the night.
- 7. July 26, 2010 • 4:04 a.m. Officials in the Edmonton, Alberta control room attempt to restart Lakehead Pipeline 6B. The system will not start up, and technicians spent nearly the next four hours “troubleshooting” the problem. (NTSB) • 4:26 a.m. Officials in Edmonton, Alberta call in mass balance analysts to assist with the start up. Officials increase the pressure in the line, as well as turn the line off and on “repeatedly.” (Schauer) • 7:52 a.m. Officials in Edmonton, Alberta order the line shut down, and the trouble area of Marshall sealed off. That means they closed valves at either end of a three mile stretch of pipeline. (Schauer, NTSB, Enbridge officials) • 9:49 a.m. Edmonton, Alberta control room officials dispatch an Enbridge employee to the pipeline. Employee reports “readings are at zero” and that he “doesn’t see anything.” (Schauer) • 11:11 a.m. Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority initiates a response call about “entire downtown smells like natural gas” in the city of Marshall. City of Marshall firefighters dispatched. (911 logs) • 11:16 a.m. Consumer’s Energy employee calls Enbridge to report visual confirmation of oil at the spill location. (Schauer, NTSB, Enbridge, EPA, county officials) • 1:33 p.m. Enbridge officially reports the incident to the National Response Center. (NRC, NTSB, Enbridge) 17 hours after the alarms indicated an issue. Source: Michigan Messenger, The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- 8. The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Lakehead Pipeline 6b
- 9. Enbridge Oil Spill Marshall, MI July 25th, 2010
- 13. David Dodge
- 14. Peter Essick
- 15. Supporting and assisting agencies: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Allegan County Emergency Management American Red Cross Augusta Police Department B&B Fire Safety Emergency Response Calhoun Conservation District Calhoun County Commissioners Calhoun County Drain Commission Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office Calhoun County Treasurers Office Calhoun Conservation District Calhoun Greenation District City of Battle Creek, Michigan Six primary agencies have responded to the City of Marshall, Michigan emergency: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Fredonia Township Fire Department Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment Huron Potawatomi (MDNRE) Kalamazoo County Office of Emergency Management Michigan State Police Emergency Management Division Kalamazoo Public Safety Calhoun County Public Health Department Kalamazoo County Health Department Calhoun County Sheriff Kalamazoo Watershed Council Kalamazoo County Sheriff Marshall Township Government and Fire Department Marshall Police Department Michigan Department of Community Health Michigan Occupational Safety & Health Administration Natural Resource Group Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Occupational Safety & Health Administration
- 17. EPA's Operational Update Photos
- 18. EPA's Operational Update Photos
- 20. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Kalamazoo Gazette / Jerry Campbell
- 21. David Coates / The Detroit News
- 22. John Grap/Battle Creek Enquirer/Associated Press
- 23. Wildlife
- 25. AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette, Jonathon Gruenke The community tries to take matters into their own hands…
- 27. Keeping wildlife out of oil polluted areas…
- 28. Photo courtesy of EPA Region 5)
- 29. Current Status…
- 39. What Can I do? National Online Action alert: Enbridge Oil Spill in Michigan: http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/Policy-Solutions/Drilling-and-Mining/Ta Templates letters to send to the President, Secretary of State, Congressional Members or even local officials. Start a community action coalition or group Resources/Reports: •Tar Sands Pipeline Safety Risks •Assault on America: A Decade of Petroleum Company Disaster, Pollution, and Profit •The Riverwatch: Special Report on Oil & Gas •Dirty Business, Friends of the Earth
- 41. Pipeline Safety Legislation Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011 – HR2937
- 42. RECOMMENDATIONS •Great Lakes states should regulate interstate pipelines and participate in the oversight and inspection in interstate pipelines. •The Great Lakes basin should, in its entirety, be considered a High Consequence Area and/or Unusually Sensitive Area, which would require more frequent inspections, requires a risk-based analysis for pipelines and at least some defects to be repaired under the Integrity Management Programs administered by PHMSA. •All Great Lakes states need to consider strong renewable energy standards similar to Iowa, which gets 21% of its energy from clean renewable sources. Michigan voters should vote, this November, for the improved renewable energy standard of 25% by 2025. This will protect Michigan’s natural heritage by reducing dependency on oil, coal and gas. •The state of Michigan and our federal agencies should deny all new oil pipelines and expansions of existing pipelines within the Great Lakes basin due to economic and environmental sensitive’s, especially with Line 5.
- 43. RECOMMENDATIONS •Enbridge needs to develop additional response centers on either peninsula, which would hopefully create an immediate response time, rather than 3 hours from Escanaba and 5 hours from Bay City. •No pipelines transporting raw or upgraded tar sands should be approved for construction or expansion until the National Academy of Sciences has concluded a study on how transportation of these products impacts current pipelines. •In the wake of the Kalamazoo River spill, any pipeline operator transporting DilBit should be required to develop alternative response plans; taking into account the unique characteristics of the toxic heavy bitumen and the need for increased safeguards. •Our federal agencies should require that Enbridge pay for a thorough health study, around the Kalamazoo River release, on how a release of DilBit impacts wildlife and human health—short and long term. •PHMSA Integrity management programs need to be overhauled and there needs to be increased oversight during pipeline inspections and when reviewing emergency response plans. •Pipeline information, including response plans, should be publicly available and PHMSA should allow for public comment periods.
Editor's Notes
- Pipeline map that the Detroit Free Press put together after the Enbridge oil spill – point out locations of concern – talk about Line 5 under straits of Mackinac. 2) Spill in Constantine Twp by BP due to a weld failure. This happened on May 30 th , 2010 and 92,988 gallons was spilled Sensitive areas not disclosed by PHMSA nor are the emergency response plans – sometimes PHMSA does not have record of an operators emergency response plan.
- Major tributary to Lake Michigan There are approximately 400,000 watershed residence. Area is very populous.
- Lakehead system, line 6b This is an older pipeline, built in the 60’s, and has had many issues. Under question by Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and Congress prior to the spill (next slide) Change in product: Line 6B was originally built to transport conventional crude, but without notice or change in pipeline standards, Enbridge began shipping diluted bitumen or raw tar sands oil through this pipeline 5-10 years ago. Diluted bitumen is a blend of this raw bitumen (or tar sands oil) and volatile natural gas liquid condensate. It’s been found to be highly corrosive, acidic. and potentially unstable. Operators use increased pressures to move the product, which causes increased temps in pipelines. Many are concerned that this will put increased stressors on our pipelines, causing more spills. The National Academy of Sciences has been charged with looking into this issue by PHMSA. Enbridge, or any other pipeline operators, does not have to notify PHMSA of a product change in their line because PHMSA (again, the federal agency that regulates pipelines) does not have separate regulations for different kinds of crude oils.
- Go over timeline of this summers events. Pipeline was rittled with anomalies/defects – Enbridge was asking for an extension on addressing those… 10 days before the Marshall, MI spill they said they could detect a leak…… http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/09/congressman_criticizes_enbridg.html
- Demonstrates human error aspect of operating pipelines
- Estimated 840,000 gallons of oil spilled from the pipeline – EPA reports that 1.1 million gallons of oil has been recovered and there’s still submerged oil to deal with.. This saturated a 5 acre area which spilled into Talmadge Creek, flowed nearly 2 miles to the Kalamazoo River. Over 40 miles of waterway were saturated with oil, said and done.
- The cause of the spill and pipeline burst was due to the tape coating on the pipeline causing a tenting effect, which allowed for external corrosion, as determined by the National Transportation Safety Board. A “keystone cops” response was due to Enbridge not reporting the spill until 17 hours after alarms indicated a leak and because they had inadequate response plans in place. To date, Enbridge has not taken formal action to prove that they have corrected these problems, nor has PHMSA required that of them. PHMSA did issue a 3.7 million fine, and 24 enforcement violations, which Enbridge has paid. The report Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks, which I touched on earlier, had this to say about the cause of the spill and the unpredictable nature of diluted bitumen: “ As diluted Bitumen flows through a pipeline, pressure changes within the pipeline can cause the natural gas liquid condensate component to move from Liquid to gas phase. This forms a gas bubble that can impede the flow of oil (known as column separation). The proper response to column separation is to pump more oil through the pipeline. During the Kalamazoo spill, Enbridge pipeline gushed for more than 12 hours before the pipeline was finally shut down. An initial investigation indicates that the pipelines monitoring data was interpreted to indicate a column separation rather than a leak. Because the proper response to column separation is to pump more oil through the pipeline, misdiagnoses can be devastating.
- This graphic dem. How little impact that fine, by PHMSA, has on Enbridge. Cost benefits anal.
- Due to heavy rain days prior to the spill, the river was at flood state which pushed much of the oil into the shoreline and sensitive wetland areas, where wildlife resides. Also, as diluted bitumen begins to weather and break down – benzene and other VOC’s are released into the atmosphere and the remaining oil starts to sink in the water – rather than float. This was a shock to Enbridge and the EPA, as Enbridge was only using conventional oil capturing techniques to cleanup oil at the surface. It wasn’t until months into the clean-up when it was discovered that oil had made its way into the water column and the river bottom, going un-noticed below the surface and progressing further down river than originally though. EPA calls this oil Submerged oil
- Another photo showing the level of flooding – Talmadge creek
- Many learned of the spill via word or mouth from neighbors, news reports or even these posters. The first week of the spill was pure chaos. Enbridge’s main goal was to get control over the situation and it seemed like impacts to people and wildlife fell to the wayside. Because of the Clean Water Act, The EPA came on the scene to oversee all efforts and form the Unified Command which is still in function and overseeing clean-up today – but Enbridge (the at fault party) is responsible for ALL cleanup, restoration, and wildlife recovery. Because of delays in response from Enbridge and even the EPA, the first week and possibly the second week, many impacted residents needs were not met. Some would even say that several months after the spill they were still not being communicated with properly. This was a big issue because in the weeks after the spill, the presence of Benzene was a major health problem for residence living along the river as people feel ill from exposure. It wasn’t until months after the spill that people understood what actually spilled, diluted bitumen, and what they were actually exposed to. It took county health officials three days to issue a voluntary evacuation order for part of the affected area, due to benzene contamination in the air. And even today – there are major concerns that the evacuations were too late and the areas evacuated too small. Some documents say that it should be 1000 feet evacuation zone for diluted bitumen. A survey by the Michigan Department of Community Health, conducted three weeks after the spill found that 60 percent of nearby residents experienced headaches, trouble breathing, vomiting or other health problems that MDCH attributed to the spill. But that survey was highly questioned because many residents said they were never asked about their symptoms and many local health care providers did not know to report cases to MDCH. So far no public agency has undertaken a study of the long-term human health effects from the spill. But many are working to try and change that, including NWF
- Enbridge has publicly taken full responsibility for the spill. Because they are the at fault party, they are required to conduct a full clean-up and develop their corrective action orders to be approved by EPA or MIDEQ. The EPA, as the main oversight agency, formed the unified command which was made up of federal and state agencies along with many local first responders and agencies. Enbridge contracted with Focus Wildlife to address wildlife impacts and the USFWS along with the MIDNR, developed a response plan for wildlife. I also want to take this time to hit home how involved the local community becomes when something like this happens. (next slide)
- All the agencies highlighted in red are city or county agencies that helped with the response or continue to aid in the clean-up efforts. Yet Enbridge, or any other pipeline company, is not required to share emergency response plans with local groups stakeholders when operating their pipelines. Sometimes, PHMSA doesn’t even have those response plans.
- Map of impacted river there were evacuations put in place for residence living along the river or within 200 feet of it. There was also a ban on drinking water and no contact order for most of the river. The ban on drinking water has been lifted, but many residents on well systems continue to use bottled water in fear of future contamination. The local health department continues to monitor local drinking water and test wells (at the request of the home owner). The impacted sections of river remain closed and advisories remain in place for fishing.
- photo
- Photo
- The pipeline was restarted a little over a month after the spill. The original restart plan was rejected by PHMSA, but since PHMSA has authorized Enbridge to start with some parameters – including replacement of sections of pipeline (for example, this pipeline travels under the St. Clair river - and Enbridge knew there was a dent in that section of the line but has always argued it was not a risk – they were asked to replace that pipeline, Congresswoman Candice Miller was a big champion on this effort. Enbridge has also announced some plans to replace 75 miles of line 6b running through MI and parts of IN. While we commend Enbridge for this step, we would like to see pipeline safety legislation in place addressing the risks of transporting diluted bitumen before they are granted any permits to move forward. Also, because this project is considered repair and not a full replacement, it’s something that the State of Michigan has to deny or approve. There is a hearing that will happen to determine that decision and the public can submit written testimony or even request to testify for or against this project. These repair projects are now all expansion projects believed to aid in the reversal of Line 9 and increase the amount of oil that could possibly head East for export. If you’re interested in weighing in on this process – please talk to me later this evening.
- Economic situation made worse because of the spill: There were several reports of businesses and residents trying to sell homes but banks were red listing properties because property values were unknown. Enbridge created a home buyout program and ultimately they have bought a little over 130 properties along the river. One woman that I work with regularly owned a business above the dam (in this photo) and a home below the river. She was never officially notified that she should not remain in her home because of the presence of Benzene and she is a cancer patient – at the time taking treatments….Because so much oil pooled in front of their business, Enbridge used their property, without obtaining office consent first, to set up a response. This closed their business for a significant period of time and when they approached Enbridge for compensation or for consideration for the home buyout program, there were many hoops she had to jump through because Enbridge said they were not set up to deal with businesses. Also, because a state of emergency was issued, Enbridge was allowed to use her property, without notice and consent. eventually they were able to reach an agreement with Enbridge, after obtaining a lawyer, and she continues to fight for a long term health study.
- In the first several weeks, and in some cases – throughout the entire cleanup, workers rights and safety were at risk. There was public outcry because many community members witnessed workers working in unimaginable situations without any legitimate protective gear, esp respirators. Enbridge was also publicly criticized for having a contactor that shipped workers up from TX that were not properly document to work in the US. They were also working extremely long hours and not housed properly. I mentioned the issues with benzene earlier and these workers were working day and night in the areas that were most contaminated.
- Again, wetlands and shoreline (where wildlife reside) took this biggest hit.
- Our office personally tried to report several oiled wildlife, as pictured here to the left, with no success. Again, Enbridge was in charge of this response. They eventually provided the public with a 1800 number to call but this phone number was the number people called when you need report anything or ask questions about health. To this day, the person answering the phone will simply take a message or direct you to a website. So any health problems, wildlife reporting, questions about if you were safe to stay in your home or drink water went to Enbridge and they decided what information is dispatch/answered.
- Again, the response to wildlife was extremely delayed. People tried to open up their own rescue facilities but Enbridge threatened those efforts with legal action because of the liability… all this just continued to anger folks within the impacted communities because everyone felt like every part of the response was failing and there was zero transparency.
- Finally - 2 weeks after the spill, the first bird was cleaned- as pictured. Very few wildlife, at this point, had been captured for rehab. The right top photo is week one – we could not tell if they had any animals in the bins, everything was VERY white and no sounds. The right bottom photo is week two – things seem much more used and like response was finally occurring. We could hear wildlife and see workers tending to wildlife. I have reason to believe that they were staging things in the first week to show a response that really had not occurred yet (the way that it should).
- Throughout the winter months, I heard reports from the USFWS and EPA that they were finding oil seeping out of burrows from hibernating animals and the impacts to wildlife have not ended – rescue and clean-up efforts continue to this day. This is a photo of a plastic owl on a stick – one way Enbridge was trying to keep wildlife out of an oiled wetland…
- (Great Blue Heron – turtle NWF helped capture while riding with USFWS on a rescue mission) In the end, nearly 4000 animals were recorded as being impacted by the spill – but I put caution on these numbers because I was told that there were areas too dangerous for rescue workers to get into, esp. the 5 acres around ground zero. Animals were left to parish, however I did hear of a couple stories where workers might have been able to bring some wildlife to safe zones – very rare, however and very sad when you consider how much life is in a wetland. Largest recovered were reptiles - mainly turtles. But the animals that took the largest hit were mammals with only a 36% survival rate. Summary of Wildlife Activities 7/28/2010 through 7/13/2011* Collected Dead on Arrival Died in Care Released In Care Survival (%) Amphibians 53 0 0 53 0 100.0% Birds 196 25 27 144 0 73.5% Crustaceans 7 3 2 2 0 28.6% Mammals 63 25 15 23 0 36.5% Reptiles 3651 18 65 3521 47 97.7% Total 3970 71 109 3743 47 95.5% NRDA pre assessment has started and is made up of 6 State and Federal agencies and 2 Tribes. They are: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Michigan Department of Natural Resources Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Michigan Attorney General Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi
- Throughout the winter, spring and summer, Enbridge continued to work on removing contaminated soil and debris. While much of the oil has been removed from the surface of the water, the bigger issue is what remains at the bottom of the river, in wetlands, and overbanks. The EPA conducted their spring assessment of the river. During that spring assessment, the EPA and Enbridge discovered that submerged oil, at the bottom of the river, was much worse than originally thought with over 200 acres of oil found. The EPA gave Enbridge a deadline for clean-up of that submerged oil, which ended several weeks ago. Enbridge did not meet that deadline because even more oil was found at the bottom of the river throughout the summer. The EPA now plans to do another assessment and possible identify areas that still need to be addressed or new locations. There is an idea to leave some oil and monitor it to see if the environment will help with the decay process. There’s thought that removing the oil could harm wetlands more than just leaving it. Loose loose for wildlife no matter the decision. Health impacts are still being assessed. Many community members still have a high level of concern that the river is not cleaned to high enough standards and that the communities impacted will continue to have a loss in property value. Est. cost for clean-up is still unknown news outlets reported that http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110926/NEWS01/309260003/Enbridge-revises-spill-cost-estimates?fb_ref=artrectop&fb_source=home_oneline The cost could go up by about 20 percent from Enbridge’s previous $585 million estimate, according to a form filed Monday with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. Enbridge cited additional work and reassessment, including cleanup of submerged oil, as reasons for the increase. The cost of the spill cleanup is likely to exceed the company’s $650 million pollution liability insurance coverage, according to the statement. Most of that will be covered by insurance. (minus any fees, penalties and court costs) With the EPA’s spring assessment and discovery of large amounts of submerged oil, I can’t help but anticipate that the est. amount of oil spilled will increase. The EPA is not allowed to increase that amount – that is something that Enbridge or NTSB (investigating the spill) has to conclude. The investigation into what caused the spill is ongoing – NTSB is unable to comment on when that will be complete but has made some mention that it could be this winter.
- EPA map
- EPA map
- The next few slides are photos taken a year after the spill – showing how bad the river still is in some areas (July 2011)
- July 2011, photos taken by me
- Techniques for tackling submerged oil are very abrasive to environment: dredging, aerating and even racking the contaminated sediment. They do this hoping that the oil will re-surface. Enbridge then placed oil absorbent materials downriver to try and capture the resurfacing oil. But the oil has sank for a reason so I highly question if their work can be successful. The dangers of this kind of oil! Wildlife continues to be exposed to the oil: while taking these photos (mid July of this year) I saw several fish swimming around the contaminated areas and turtles continue to be captured and cleaned. If the public sees oiled wildlife, they are still needing to report that to Enbridge at the 1800 number.
- Dredging
- States can increase their regulations over interstate pipelines, adding to federal rules and guidelines. Several states currently do this, like Washington. Our office is currently looking into what that might look like for some Great Lake states – I anticipates encouraging several Great Lakes states to adapt additional rules over interstate pipelines in the years to come. We’re also pushing for stronger pipeline safety standards throughout the country: Some of the main points NWF would like to see are: Shorter response times when spills occur – requiring that a company has to report a spill within an hour of discovering an incident. Increased communication between operators and communities (this is something everyone in this room can help develop) Increased transparency with the public, on the part of PHMSA and pipeline operators – providing response plans and allowing for public comment periods Increased regulations along pipelines that travel through high consequence areas or unusually sensitive areas And of course, a full study on the corrosive nature of diluted bitumen - along with increased regulations adapted for pipelines that transport this product.
- http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/state-programs – PHMSA does supply some Grants for State pipelines programs. State Pipeline Safety programs adopt the federal regulations and may issue more stringent regulations for intrastate pipeline operators under state law. REPEAT? The National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Office is currently working with legal students at the University of Michigan to develop a report which outlines current pipelines rules and regulations for the Great Lakes states. They will then go through and review what other states, Like Washington, have done to improve their pipelines safety and oversight. The end result of that report will supply recommendations for several states to consider in order to improve their pipeline safety. Expect to see that report early next year.
- What can I do? http://www.pstrust.org/pipeinfo/localgov.htm - Really encourage local government planning
- ACTION and resources Slide for “asks” – Action Center, Sign up for NWF action, Post card? http://online.nwf.org/site/PageNavigator/ActionCenter ( https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1479&s_src=GWPolicyPageFeature ) Resource slide – wildlife promise, pipeline safety trust, MIDEQ (Michael Baranoski)
- community involvement plan success – have a conversation with pipeline operators (develop a relationship), invite first responders, county commissioners, city council, local river groups, ect. WANGA and their work – provide examples of local efforts and ways to duplicate.
- Important legislation: NTSB has recommended installation of automatic shut-off valves on existing pipelines, but legislation under consideration in Congress only addresses valves for newly-constructed lines — a far less expensive proposition, said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust. Bipartisan Pipeline Safety Bill Aims to Bridge Gap between Regulators and Pipeline Industry WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 23, 2011) – As debate over the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline reaches an all time high, the House Energy and Commerce Committee came together and overwhelmingly passed the Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act of 2011 – HR2937. This legislation has gained heavy public interest in wake of a year of massive pipeline failures: from the deadly gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California to nearly 1 million gallons of tar sands oil gushing into the Kalamazoo River from an Enbridge pipeline, in Michigan. The bill is considered a step in the right direction as it holds pipeline companies more liable for incidents by increasing fees associated with violations. It also mandates that companies report spills, explosions and other incidents quicker. This legislation has also met the high water mark by requiring a long overdue study to be conducted on the impacts associated with transporting corrosive raw tar sands oil through our aging pipeline networks built for conventional crudes . Where the bill does fall short is by not calling for expansion of the integrity management requirements beyond designated “High Consequence Areas”. It has also failed to adapt key recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board in response to their investigation into the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion calling for automatic shut-off valves, among other important recommendations. This bill had many Great Lakes congressional leaders behind it, including Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Fred Upton (R- Mich ). By showing support for this bill, these members of Congress are also continuing to support protection over our Great Lakes and our communities as our aging pipeline infrastructure needs increased scrutiny and modernized regulations. This new legislation will have a chance to incorporate some of the missing elements when brought before the House for collaboration with another house committee pipeline safety bill that came out of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee earlier this year. “ Until adequate pipeline safety legislation has been passed by congress and adopted and enforced by the US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the US should halt new pipeline projects, like the Keystone XL” said ______ with the National Wildlife