MI HR0302

Urges the Governor to formulate a comprehensive plan for improved pipeline oversight in Michigan.

References the July 25, 2010 Enbridge Line 6B rupture in Marshall, Michigan, which spilled over 840,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into a creek feeding the Kalamazoo River, resulting in $800 million in cleanup costs and affecting wetlands, farmlands, residential areas, and hundreds of people's health.

Notes the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded the rupture resulted from pervasive organizational failures by Enbridge and weak government oversight, with Enbridge employees failing to detect the rupture for more than 17 hours.

States 3,128 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines cross Michigan according to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), including pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac, with only 113 federal PHMSA inspectors covering over 2 million miles nationally and no inspectors based in Michigan.

Recommends Michigan employ its own pipeline inspectors with authority to monitor pipeline companies and intervene as appropriate to protect natural resources.