HOUGHTON, MI-- The state has reached an agreement with Michigan Tech to conduct a risk analysis of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
A team of public and private universities led by Dr. Guy Meadows is expected to complete the study by September. Meadows is the director of the Great Lakes Research Center at Tech. The analysis will evaluate Enbridge’s liability for a worst-case-scenario pipeline spill.
Analysis topics will include the impact on Michigan’s environment and economy; what it would take to contain and clean up a worst-case spill; and potential measures to restore the affected natural resources and mitigate the ecological impacts.
The Agency for Energy, Attorney General’s Office, Department of Environmental Quality, and Department of Natural Resources signed the contract with Michigan Tech on Friday.