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Letter to federal safety agency requests inquiry into impact of job cuts on unsafe, aging fossil fuel pipeline threatening the Great Lakes.

Organizations across the Great Lakes sent a letter today to Tristan Brown, acting administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), highlighting concerns that Enbridge's plans to lay off 650 workers will negatively impact the safety of the Line 5 oil pipeline. The letter calls into question how the company plans to conduct proper maintenance and monitoring of its oil pipelines in light of its proposed workforce reduction.

“It is crucial to understand how these changes might affect the ability of the remaining staff to maintain the Line 5 pipeline to the highest safety standards,” the letter states.

The letter urges PHMSA to monitor Enbridge's actions during these layoffs and calls upon the agency to conduct a thorough public review and report as an assurance to stakeholders regarding the safety of impacted pipelines.

“It’s a shame that while Enbridge is expected to earn record profits in 2024, they’re planning to lay off 650 of their workers,” said Sean McBrearty, the Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign coordinator. “It seems as if Enbridge cares more about their profits than the safety of our Great Lakes and drinking water. As Enbridge is looking to skirt oversight from federal regulators, it has us asking: Will these layoffs have an impact on the 70-year-old Line 5 oil pipeline threat in the Great Lakes?”

As long as we have to deal with this risk to 21 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, we need proper oversight of this Canadian fossil fuel giant." - Sean McBrearty, Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign coordinator

The letter can be found here. Organizations who signed the letter are part of the Oil and Water Don’t Mix Steering Committee, whose members include Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), Clean Water Action, FLOW (For Love of Water), Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, League of Women Voters of Michigan, Michigan Climate Action Network, Michigan Environmental Council, Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, Progress Michigan, Sierra Club, Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment, Straits of Mackinac Alliance, and TC 350.

“As long as we have to deal with this risk to 21 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, we need proper oversight of this Canadian fossil fuel giant,” McBrearty continued. “That’s why we’re asking the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to look into how Enbridge’s job cuts could impact their ability to transport oil without any potential for leaks. Michigan already lived through a catastrophic Enbridge oil spill in 2010 along the Kalamazoo River, and we shouldn’t risk putting ourselves through another one.”