The Extend of Oil and Gas Drilling in Michigan

Unbelievable - if you project all oil and gas well records (including dry holes) onto a map of Michigan - almost no place in the lower peninsula is really 100% untouched, clean, and pristine. Where is PURE MICHIGAN?

Look what's Back at Heritage Park

Pump stopped working. Guess there is not enough pressure to push the oil through the pipeline to Witt Farm.

Pipeline Safety

Two interesting resources:

Laws Don't Adequately Protect Great Lakes from Pipeline Oil Spills, New Report Finds

Stronger rules needed to prevent a repeat of historic spill in Michigan

04-30-2012 // Jordan Lubetkin

read more here

and especially the report linked in this article: After the Marshall Spill: Oil Pipelines in the Great Lakes Region, A Legal Analysis (pdf)

The other is a website dedicated to an independent critical view on pipeline safety:

The Pipeline Safety Trust

The Pipeline Safety Trust is a nonprofit public charity promoting fuel transportation safety through education and advocacy, by increasing access to information, and by building partnerships with residents, safety advocates, government, and industry, that result in safer communities and a healthier environment. More detail about the Trust’s mission, history and leadership can be found in the links below.

Link: http://pstrust.org/

Rally at the Mackinac Bridge

Despite the importance of the event - only a little more than 300 people showed up. The organizers 350.org in Traverse City did not advertise the event very well - especially within the local communities around the Strait of Mackinac. A 2nd problem was that no press was documenting the event.

Worst thing I was getting to know that the two 60 years old 20" pipes of line 5 are running through the strait are UNSUPPORTED - meaning not lying at the bottom or held up by a pedals tool. With the strong and changing currents in the Strait of Mackinac, the pipeline that is unsupported above the underwater canyon (see Google Earth profile below) is bound to be exposed to a lot of stress - and it is actually a wonder that no major spill occurred yet. The pipelines are owned by Enbridge, and the pipes are of the same size and type as the one that ruptured in the Marshall, Mi oil spill of 2010. Download the full report by Jeff Alexander and Beth Wallace from the National Wildlife Federation: Sunken Hazard: Aging oil pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac an ever-present threat to the Great Lakes (pdf)

 

Location of the two pipelines crossing the strait of Mackinac. Source:

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

 

Google Earth drawing of the approximate location of the pipelines and the depth profile of the canyon at this line. Note the deep canyon, which is thought to be the remainder of a deep river canyon during one of the glacial periods that is now submerged. The red line depicts my guess of how the pipelines are partially on the ground of the strait but hang unsupported over the canyon.

More info and very insightful comments also here.

The speakers that I listened to were

Bill Latka • TC350 – Solutions

The two 20 inch pipes below the speaker's podium are identical pipes that are submerged in the Strait of Mackinac - and burst open in the pipeline accident in Marshall, MI

Cecil Pavlat • Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians- This was the speaker I was most impressed of. He stressed that global climate change is not only harming us humans but all other innocent species on this planet - and that we humans cannot longer hear and listen what Earth is telling us. That we lost our ways - and our purpose in the world - and as I see it are destroyers of the World when we were meant to be Stewards...

 

During his speech - wood smoke was carried around our gathering - and all the sudden - a group of eagles circled above us... as if Earth is trying to tell us that we are not alone in this fight....

Beth Wallace • National Wildlife Federation: Author of Sunken Hazard report - mentioned above

Bill McKibben • 350.org, Author, Environmentalist

Jeff Spoelstra • Kalamazoo River Watershed Council

There is no Planet B

The Long Chain of Responsibility Behind an Oily and Deadly Train Wreck

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

New York Times July 8, 2013

Around the smoldering, oil-soaked crater in the heart of Lac-Mégantic, a small Quebec town where an unmanned train with 72 tank cars carrying crude oil derailed and exploded early on Saturday, killing at least 13 people*, thesearch for victims and causes is still on.
Attention will soon focus on some misstep by a train crewman or maintenance worker or the like. But the chain of responsibility goes much further. While investigations proceed, here’s some context to mull.
More here: http://nyti.ms/12Sl5tT

Local legislators take action to protect our environment!

Nopaxton received word today that Rep. Gretchen Driskell (52nd District) and Rep. Jeff Irwin (53rd District) will be announcing a pair of bills aimed at protecting Michigan's precious natural resources.  The bills focus on restricting hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") and giving local Michigan governments and constituencies the opportunity to decide whether or not they'd allow potentially damaging drilling operations in their municipality.  For those that might not know, as Michigan law currently stands only certain types of municipalities have the ability to regulate drilling in their area, and townships (which constitute the vast majority of rural municipalities within the State) currently have no say at all.  Reps. Driskell and Irwin are taking a stand, and we'll find out more and pass it along.  If you'd like to join them to support the cause, they are having a public announcement this week at:

   Thursday, July 11, 2013

    1 PM

    Gallup Park Canoe Livery  (http://www.a2gov.org/government/communityservices/ParksandRecreation/CanoeLiveries/Pages/GallupPark.aspx)

 For more information, their offices can be contacted at:

     Rep. Driskell (855) 627-5052 

     Rep.  Irwin    (517) 373-2577