NWF Statement on Release of Line 5 Alternatives Analysis

ANN ARBOR, MI — Today, the final alternatives analysis report on Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline was released to the public. As per an agreement with the state to obtain funding for the report, Enbridge has had five days to review this report before its public release. In June, the state of Michigan released a draft report on alternatives to Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which pumps up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) per day along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. The final alternatives analysis can be found here.

The draft report, written by Dynamic Risk, was met with heavy criticism, and the National Wildlife Federation joined with many others to suggest numerous and substantive changes. The National Wildlife Federation’s public comments on the draft alternatives assessment can be found here.

The following is an on-the-record statement on how the National Wildlife Federation will be evaluating the report from Mike Shriberg, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center and a member of the Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board:

“We’re looking for this report to address four issues, at minimum, lacking in the first draft. It must assess what’s best for Michigan – not Enbridge, it must analyze Michigan’s share of product transported through Line 5, it must accurately assess the risk of Line 5 and treat that risk with the seriousness it deserves, and it must fully analyze all alternatives to Line 5.”

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