According to the March 14, 2017, edition of The Alpena News, Enbridge Inc. has identified 18 “holidays” on its Line 5 pipeline running beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Whew. For a while there I was afraid that the absence of “protective covering” in 18 places on Line 5 might be something serious like the flaws in the company’s Line 6B near Marshall, Mich., that leaked 27,132 barrels of crude oil due to “known but unrepaired cracks and external corrosion” on July 26, 2010.

The above information was gathered by the Polaris Institute using data from Enbridge’s own reports.

But who can worry about “holidays”? Think tinsel and mistletoe, not oil-slicked gulls, loons and herons. Think turkey and stuffing, not dead and rotting steelhead, lake trout, and walleye washing ashore on Great Lakes’ beaches. Finally, think Fourth of July fireworks exploding above nighttime Lake Huron waters, not how a glass of petroleum-enhanced tap water might taste.

Thanks, Enbridge, for clarifying your distain for environmental responsibility and the intelligence of those living in the Great Lakes states.

Paul Bray

Alpena