MACKINAC ISLAND — The 62-year-old pipeline carrying oil through the Straits of Mackinac is getting lots of attention here this week, and one of Michigan's senators says the issue is on his radar.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, told MLive Wednesday he's ready to look into the safety of Enbridge Energy's Line 5. That particular line has been the subject of protests both before and at the Mackinac Policy Conference, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's annual event on Mackinac Island.
Peters said he's "very concerned" about the pipeline, along with other pipelines in the Great Lakes. He pointed to the calamitous oil spill from an Enbridge line in the Kalamazoo River in 2010 as one reason why he's sensitive to the issue.
"As devastating as that was in the Kalamazoo River, one can only imagine how catastrophic a pipeline would be in the Great Lakes, and certainly here in the Straits of Mackinac," he said.