Ohio lawmakers make plea to keep Line 5 open, citing potential Toledo-area job losses

May 18—Four Ohio lawmakers — including a Republican and two Democrats from northwest Ohio — pleaded with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday to back down from her effort to close the controversial Line 5 pipeline that runs along the Straits of Mackinac.

So far, Governor Whitmer has given no indication she is willing to do that.

Ohio Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green) opened a news conference in Columbus by saying the attempted closure "at best, is a mistake by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and, at worse, is an attack on Ohio workers."

Their thoughts echo words reiterated in Toledo earlier this month by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and other high-ranking Ohio officials over the past couple of years before that, including Gov. Mike DeWine, Attorney General Dave Yost, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, and Oregon Mayor Mike Sefarian.

The bipartisan consensus is that Toledo-area refineries operated by BP-Husky Toledo and PBF Energy Toledo Refining Co. have the potential of losing 1.200 jobs if Ms. Whitmer succeeds.

The pipeline also serves northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Enbridge has thus far refused to comply with Ms. Whitmer's May 12 shutdown deadline, which the governor announced last November.

Her office gave no response to The Blade about the latest plea or about two symbolic resolutions in the Ohio General Assembly calling for that pipeline to remain open.

Neither House Resolution 13 nor Senate Resolution 41 have any authority in the matter. Both were passed to express the Ohio lawmakers' opinion about the Line 5 controversy. Neither require Gov. Mike DeWine's signature, and they don't require the same language.

The Ohio House resolution was passed in March by a 73-10 vote.

The Ohio Senate has not taken a vote on the resolution introduced into that chamber.

At the news conference, Ms. Gavarone was joined by Ohio Sen. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo) and Ohio Rep. Mike Sheehy (D., Oregon), and a Cincinnati-area lawmaker, Ohio Rep. Brian Baldridge (R., Winchester).

Ms. Fedor and Mr. Sheehy made it clear they are Democrats who support their Republican colleagues in keeping crude oil, propane, and other products flowing through the 645-mile pipeline, which is owned by Calgary-based Enbridge Energy.

Enbridge is the same company that owns the oil pipeline that burst in 2010 along the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Mich., about a 90-minute drive northwest of Toledo. It was one of America's largest inland oil spills and became one of the most extensive environmental cleanups in Michigan's history.

Yet, as the foursome noted, pipelines in general transport fuel far more efficiently and with fewer climate-altering greenhouse gases than trucks, ships, or trains.

"This is about clean energy. And we can be clean with the refineries," Ms. Fedor said. "Without service from Line 5, these refineries are likely to close. I simply cannot support the removal of 1,210 jobs. I understand and share Gov. Whitmer's concerns about the environment. But I simply cannot support shutting down Line 5."

Mr. Sheehy said Oregon was home to a half-dozen refineries in the 1970s and 1980s.

"To turn our backs now on the two remaining refineries is not an option," he said.

Mr. Baldridge said the long lines and gasoline shortages that came in the wake of this month's cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline that moves fuel from Houston to the Southeast should serve as a "real-time example" of what could happen if Line 5 closed.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel supports the governor's effort to shut Line 5.

Both are Democrats. They vowed to close down Line 5 during their successful campaigns for the respective offices they assumed in early 2019.

Line 5 is controversial because a 4-mile portion of it flows beneath the Straits of Mackinac and, thus, through one of the world's largest collections of freshwater.

A tugboat's 2018 anchor strike on it did not result in a release, but it was a wake-up call for environmentalists and others, including Native American tribes. They now contend the risk is intolerable.

The pipeline was built in 1953 to help reduce the odds of a major spill by ships, trucks, or trains.

In addition to the two local refineries, it serves refineries and other facilities in Detroit and Sarnia, Ont.

Area refineries produce much of the jet fuel for Detroit Metro Airport and Toledo Express Airport, as well as gasoline for motor vehicles.

Scott Hayes, Toledo Refining's health, safety, environmental and governmental affairs manager, said earlier this month the impact on local gasoline prices could be "in the dollars, not cents" if Line 5 closes, and claimed the cost of many household products that use petroleum-based chemicals — from plastics to clothing — would likely rise, as well.

The four Ohio lawmakers who spoke up Tuesday said they are satisfied with a deal Enbridge has negotiated to build a $500 million tunnel beneath the Straits. The deal was made in the fall of 2018, shortly before former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, left office.

Such a tunnel would be built 100 feet below Lake Michigan's lakebed.

Enbridge has said it would shield the pipeline from any future anchor strikes and myriad other threats, including vandalism while providing inspectors access for more regular inspections.

It was originally expected to take a decade to build, but the company has since said it could put it on an expedited schedule with faster permitting.

Line 5 provides 42 percent of the products refined throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, according to Mr. Hayes.

Ms. Whitmer's efforts to close the pipeline are supported by numerous environmental groups.

One of the more vocal has been Traverse City-based For Love of Water, or FLOW.

FLOW attorney and president, Jim Olson, told The Blade that the group's research shows the Great Lakes region has the capacity and flexibility to meet its energy needs "without threatening our public waters and the economy."

"Just because Enbridge and some refineries don't want to change their oil supply strategies, [that] doesn't mean that change is not feasible," he said. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Mr. Olson said a spill in the Straits "would have profound, negative impacts on the regional economy" and he wishes Ohio would support "its sister Great Lakes state, Michigan, not Enbridge and its political tactics, especially when Ohio bears none of the risk of a spill that will ruin the upper one-third of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, with long-term damage exceeding $6.2 billion dollars, not to mention the potential $45 billion to the steel industry because of the likely shutdown of shipping through these waters."

In a report commissioned by FLOW, Robert Richardson, a Michigan State University ecological economist, determined that a Line 5 oil spill could result in more than a $6 billion blow in economic impacts and natural resource damages, shrinking the nation's Gross Domestic Product by $45 billion after just 15 days.

Ryan Duffy, Enbridge spokesman, has said Line 5 operates safely, and that the company is taking measures to prevent such a spill.