Click on any photo and follow the arrows. "Ever since the 2013 Rally at the straits," Pierson said, "I have not been able to sleep another night. The mine, now in operation, was sold to Lundin Mining Corporation of Toronto. Call ahead. , represents tribal governments on the board. Sisu, by Karen Stewart, is at the Finlandia University Gallery until Jan. 5, 2021. Enbridge submitted applications to EGLE in April for several key permits needed before it can dig a $500 million tunnel under the Mackinac straits. Licensees’ multiple violations of the current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Emergency Order include: allowing non-residential, in-person gatherings; providing in-person dining; failure to require face coverings for staff and patrons; and failure to prohibit patrons from congregating. The state has released a list of possible alternatives to Enbridge’s Line 5, the oil and gas pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. The following statement, posted Oct. 22, 2020, is made on behalf of Chief Medical Officers and Chief Clinical Officers of Michigan Healthcare Systems and Hospitals: Following the recent significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Houghton County, the Houghton County Board of Commissioners, on Sept. 29, issued a Resolution for the Promotion of COVID-19 Safety Measures. Enbridge has consistently said that the current Line 5 is safe and it operates with the approval of its federal regulator. See Bill Moyers' May 24, 2013, interview with Tim DeChristopher. Our recent slide shows highlight the Keweenaw Science and Engineering Festival (KSEF) and Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) community events held Aug. 4 - 6, 2016; the 2016 Keweenaw Science Fair winners honored by Carnegie Museum; and the Lake Superior Celebration at GLRC in April 2016. "You stand between the citizens and the government and Enbridge," he said. ), MTU Chapter, Voices of the Penokee Hills (video project). Enbridge continues to boast about its “nearly one-inch-thick walls of Line 5’s steel pipe travelling under the Straits.” Failing to meet the “reasonably prudent person” provision by claiming that its steel pipelines lying underwater just west of the Mackinac Bridge since 1953 can last forever and do not require a plan for eventual decommissioning. ), Scott Dianda, 110th District Representative, Society of Wetland Scientists, Michigan Tech Chapter, Taking Education Abroad (T.E.A. (Book cover courtesy Kristin Neva). (Book cover image courtesy Nancy Langston). Follow these guidelines: 1. Catherine Hollowell, Council Member of the Sault Ste. She said that Line 5 pipeline violations include the absence of supports, the curvature, wall thickness, and the degradation of the pipe, as well as the low value insurance policy on the structure. Click on above photo to access our new slide show of the Sister March. ", First Place Purple Dragonfly Book Award in the historical fiction category, Sen. Gary Peters: PIPES Act signed into law. Liz Kirkwood, executive director of FLOW, cited the 1953 easement, which is "the legal basis for the existence of the pipeline." Without Line 5, "the demand for crude oil in Michigan far exceeds its ability to be supplied," Al Monaco, the president and CEO of Enbridge, Inc., told the Free Press editorial board. It’s heartening to see so many Michigan citizens adding their voices to the proceedings. In its letter, EGLE regulators ask Enbridge to pare down some application materials to facilitate public review. April 21, 2020. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Mackinac Bridge | Susan J. Demas. (Photo courtesy Guy Meadows of Michigan Tech University). "Although the governor [Rick Snyder] and [Attorney General Bill] Schuette said last July that the pipeline’s days are numbered, what we’re expecting is rhetoric -- more P.R. (Photo and livestream © and courtesy Joe Shannon), This Enbridge photo shows a company diver inspecting the Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. On Monday, Oct. 5, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon issued an, Under MCL 333.2253, if the MDHHS director determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, the director by emergency order may prohibit the gathering of people for any purpose and may establish procedures to be followed during the epidemic to insure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of health laws. Click on UPEC's new logo above to access their latest livestream presentations and discussions. ), Osceola 13 Rockhouse by Tony Hatala. A cheat sheet to the Enbridge Line 5 controversy. "The citizens of Michigan can rest assured that PHMSA is doing its job," Enbridge attorney David Coburn said. These are not exaggerated numbers. He said the state should be working with all available information in as close to real time as possible; and since it is not clear, in the case of limited liability corporations, who is responsible, or when a company can walk away, Enbridge should not be able to operate without a clear path to holding Enbridge responsible for environmental accidents. The Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) has issued emergency suspensions of the liquor licenses and permits held by three Michigan businesses in Lakeview, Houghton and St. Joseph. Here is an excerpt: "...WHEREAS, the simple, cheap, and effective methods to slow the spread of COVID-19 are readily known and available, such as wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing, and limiting gathering sizes indoors and outdoors; A reminder that no one is permitted to come to the Michigan Tech campus with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Side-by-side Finnish with English translation by Lillian Lehto. Gretchen Whitmer ordered Enbridge’s easement with the state for the Line 5 project through the Straits of Mackinac be revoked, giving the company until May 2021 to shut down the project. Mary Jane and Larry Helvie, Roscommon area citizens, have been educating themselves and others about the dangers of  Enbridge's Line 5 under the Mackinac Straits and have been trying to get it shut down. As a member of the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board, Jennifer McKay,  policy specialist with the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, represents environmental groups. Book cover courtesy Cyndi Perkins and Beating Windward Press. (Photo courtesy Arlyn Aronson). Book cover designed by Avis L. West of Houghton Keweenaw County Genealogical Society. Click on logo above to learn about the Calumet Art Center's many activities and classes. The Great Lakes are facing their biggest threat in history. The move to revoke the agreement was due to the “unreasonable risk” that Enbridge’s Line 5 dual oil pipelines pose to the Great Lakes. This new shirt for Earth Day, designed by rosa musket, is lightweight and roomy. Marie Tribe of In May 2010, concerned Native and non-Native citizens camped, prayed and planted a garden at Eagle Rock, an Ojibwa sacred site, which was blasted for the portal to the Rio-Tinto-Kennecott Eagle Mine. Click above to see Daily Briefings on COVID-19. Enbridge says it will comply with EGLE’s request. That study helped form the basis for a new tunnel. Enbridge in April filed an application (Case No. Pictured here at the June 13 meeting are Michigan’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board members, from left, John Quackenbush, chair, Michigan Public Service Commission; Craig Pierson, president of Marathon Pipe Line LLC; and Craig Hupp of Bodman PLC. Enbridge filed a federal complaint seeking an injunction of Whitmer’s order. Enbridge is also today moving the complaint filed by the State against Line 5 on November 13 in ... Enbridge's Line 5 has served Michiganders safely without spilling a … The recent cases in Houghton County are spreading rapidly throughout the community. She has traveled around the state and to Washington to urge officials to shut down Line 5. Line 5 supplies 65% of propane demand in the Upper Peninsula, and 55% of … (Photo courtesy Portage Library), Dredging operations at the Grand Traverse Harbor in Houghton County are shown here. Roger Gauthier, representing the Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, said that the proposal intends to study only four and a half miles despite the fact that the pipeline runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario. The public is invited to vote for their favorite pieces throughout the exhibition, which is, Undaunted by Sunday's very cold winds in Houghton, a group of concerned voters gathered at the Houghton County Courthouse for the. He invited them to visit the Straits -- twice. Kate Madigan, Michigan Environmental Council representative, called for decommissioning the pipeline to protect the 700 miles of vulnerable coastline. Enbridge filed a federal complaint seeking an injunction to stop the State of Michigan from taking any action to shut down the Line 5 dual pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. Click on photo above for more photos of the event taken by Maasto groomer Arlyn Aronson. Noting that Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said 335 days ago that the pipeline’s days are numbered, she said it is time to end the culture of delay and inaction. Some board members express legal and ethical concerns, Guy Meadows, Pipeline Safety Advisory Board member and director of Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center, is pictured here with Michigan Tech's environmental monitoring buoy that was deployed on Aug. 18, 2015, in the Straits of Mackinac, just west of the Mackinac Bridge. A spill from Enbridge Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac could contaminate nearby municipal drinking water, devastate major fisheries, kill aquatic and terrestrial wildlife, impair critical ecosystem services, diminish coastal property values, and tarnish the image of the State of Michigan and its high levels of ecological integrity. Birds see a reflection of the outdoors in a window so they try to fly right through. Line 5 is a 64-year-old pipeline that has generated a lot of controversy. Wear a mask (MHDDS orders require masks in all businesses, workplaces, and schools), It's 1900. As of Dec. 17, Houghton County totals 1,522 positives; 381 probable cases; 1,391 recoveries; 23 deaths; 6.6% positivity. (Logo courtesy Copper Country Recycling Initiative), The Foss home and garage next to Ripley Falls. The Enbridge Line 5 tunnel runs across Michigan from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, carrying oil and gas across the state. Click on the week you missed, and the headlines of articles for that week will appear as links you can click on to read the story on its own page. She now teaches at a community college downstate and attended the Pipeline Safety Advisory Board meeting as a reporter for. The board meets again in Lansing on Sept. 19, 2016. is a former Keweenaw resident and former Finlandia University communication professor. The company previously paid for a 2017 study of alternatives to continued operation of the existing Line 5 pipeline, commissioned by a task force created under former Republican Gov. (Photo © Neil Harri and courtesy Michigan Department of Natural Resources). Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a lawsuit calling Line 5 a public nuisance and environmental hazard, and demanding it be shut down. Jim Olson, president of FLOW (For the Love of Water), reminded the board that government bodies have the duty to prevent and minimize harm to public health and that the decisions made regarding the pipeline could set a precedent for future environmental work. Donations Welcome! "This is a no brainer," Larry said. Hundreds of people have written to […] Distant Drum is located in Hancock's Historic E.L.Wright Bldg. Enbridge Energy is requesting permission from residents and local governments to conduct land surveys in northern Wisconsin as it explores rerouting its Line 5 pipeline outside of the Bad River tribe’s reservation. Combining art historical references with the personal stories of her subjects, Stewart’s portraits of women chronicle the struggles as well as the joys inherent in life. EGLE also wants for more information about potential impact to wetlands and protected plant species like Houghton’s Goldenrod and Dwarf Lake Iris, as well as details on location of dig spoils and an explanation of litigation involving the project. LANSING, MI — Michigan environmental regulators want Enbridge to submit more information about its proposed Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, including an analysis of alternatives to the controversial project. Leonard Page of Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment had two suggestions for the board: First, he said, a third-party study of the pipeline could be done this year instead of using the drawn-out process that is making many citizens impatient. (will only review disputes that have been through Step 1). Click on photo for a video recording of the livestreamed event. In January, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Enbridge can proceed with tunnel construction. The filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan seeks an injunction to Gov. Visit us on. LANSING — O il & Water Don’t Mix today sharply criticized Enbridge for asking state pipeline regulators to rubber stamp a proposed Line 5 oil tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac by approving the controversial project under a special procedure that would avoid a full review by the Michigan Public Service Commission. At left is Barry Fink, president of the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, who also spoke at the event. Skiers of all ages take off for the 11th annual non-competitive Barneløpet ski race on Feb. 11. "You’re 90 miles short of Ground Zero," Page said. Yes, it is inconvenient, yes, you may miss out on something, yes, your plans may have to alter. Open most weekday afternoons. Click on book cover above to learn about Nancy Langston's latest book. Gustavo Bourdieu , 74, a resident of Hancock, passed away suddenly on Monday, September 17, 2018. Violations of this order are also punishable by a civil fine of up to $1,000. But, only together with everyone’s help, can we move forward towards a return to normal. Manual Cinema photo courtesy Rozsa Center. Houghton County is at a critical time. Related: Enbridge seeks tunnel permits amid pandemic. “As much as I dislike Enbridge, I support this (resolution) as well.” Jayson Rumball, trustee. Line 5 supplies 65 percent of the propane used in the Upper Peninsula and 55 percent for the entire state and also says that 30 percent of the crude oil from Line 5 ends up at the Marathon refinery in Detroit to be turned into gasoline for Michigan motorists. The report was written by a contractor and details some of those alternatives. 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