Michigan’s energy chief says damage to the protective coating on an oil and gas pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac was worse than initially reported.
Valerie Brater directs the Michigan Agency for Energy. She says Enbridge Energy initially reported small sections of Line Five’s protective coating were accidentally worn off down to the metal while underwater safety anchors were being installed.
Brater says the places where metal is showing are much larger than Enbridge said they were, and she says company was too slow to repair the damage.
“If a person did it, you should have known when it occurred and it should have been fixed immediately.”
Enbridge says repairs and further inspections of Line 5 should begin next week.
I’m Rick Pluta