Michigan officials are going back to Canadian energy giant Enbridge for more information on the integrity of its controversial Line 5 under the Mackinac straits, but this time they want the company to send data in a usable format.
On March 11, Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette sent a letter to Enbridge Inc. vice president Cynthia Hansen asking for pipeline inspection and operating pressure data in an "unrestricted" form instead of through a "read-only data portal."
That data portal was a source of frustration for Michigan officials during a yearlong inquiry into the submerged pipeline that resulted in a 2015 report critical of "gaps" in pipeline information that Enbridge says it gave through the limited-access portal.
Enbridge later apologized for sending the data in a format "too complex" for state officials to understand, saying that it might "mean something to someone who has a Ph.D in metallurgical engineering, but its not usable data to many people."
Source: Michigan to Enbridge: Give us understandable pipeline data
I know companies don't want to divulge more than they have to in order to conduct business. Things like pipelines, especially ones so old, require objective & current data. That Enbridge is not helpful in this process doesn't bode well for their chances.
Were I asked to vote on this right now, I would vote to shut the pipeline down.
Filed under: environmental, Michigan, oil & gas,