LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- Michigan agencies released a new report Thursday detailing the risks of a worst-case scenario oil spill from Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline.
Line 5 lies below the Straits of Mackinac and transports crude oil through the Midwest and into Canada.
The report was led by researchers from Michigan Technological University. It estimates a spill would affect 400 miles of shoreline in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada. Clean-up could cost the state nearly $2 billion.
Keith Creagh is the director of the Department of Natural Resources and co-chair of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board. He says the chance of a worst-case situation happening is low, but it's important to be prepared.
“We needed to know, even though it may not happen, what would happen and what would the cost be – who or what was in the vicinity of the spill, whether it was wildlife or public health or natural resource damage,” he says.
Enbridge says it's working with the state to enhance pipeline safety.