The Sierra Club says a small leak in the Straits of Mackinac should be a "wake up call" about pipeline safety in Michigan and the Great Lakes.
State officials say a small amount of natural gas did leak from the pipeline. Its owner Enbridge Energy says the "pinhole sized leak" was caused by a defect in a weld. The state Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club Ann Wiowode told WMUK's Gordon Evans that it's hard to have confidence that the pipeline is safe and will remain safe. She says there should be more government oversight and transparency.
Wiowode says the leak in northern Michigan and the massive oil spill on the Kalamazoo River in 2010 should prompt more aggressive action to get energy from alternative sources. Wiowode says new pipeline construction near the Great Lakes is concerning, but she says there isn't really a good place to put pipelines.
Asked if there were other places in the state where there is risk of a leak, Wiowode says the rupture in Marshall showed that there the risk is greater than has been previously believed.
