Upton Visits Enbridge Pipeline Site, Highlights Improved Safety Standards
Upton led the successful effort to craft bipartisan pipeline safety legislation that was signed into law by President Obama earlier this year
Cassopolis, MI,
Jun 12 -
This afternoon, Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) got a firsthand look of an inspection dig being undertaken by Enbridge Inc. to ensure the integrity of the company’s 6B pipeline, which runs from Griffith, Indiana, to Sarnia, Ontario. The dig is also in preparation of a $1.3-billion construction project proposed by Enbridge to replace over 200 miles of the pipeline, doubling its capacity to half a million barrels a day and improving the line’s safety. Replacing segments of the existing pipeline will begin later this summer with approval of the Michigan Public Service Commission and is estimated to cost some $4 million per mile.
Ensuring the safety of our nation’s 2.5 million miles of pipeline infrastructure has been a top priority for Upton as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Along with Michigan colleague John D. Dingell (D-Dearborn), the former Democratic Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Upton is the author of the bipartisan Pipeline Infrastructure and Community Protection Act (H.R. 2937), which ensures vital updates and improvements are made in U.S. pipeline safety. A final agreement on pipeline safety legislation was signed into law by President Obama this past January.
“Maintaining the integrity of our nation’s vast pipeline infrastructure is absolutely essential to ensure the safe, affordable delivery of energy to folks here in Michigan and across the country,” said Upton. “We are all too familiar with the unacceptable costs of catastrophe, which is why I worked closely with my Democratic colleague John Dingell to successfully craft and shepherd through major pipeline safety legislation this Congress. We have a tremendous opportunity today to create thousands of good-paying jobs and meet our nation’s growing energy needs through the production of North American energy. These new safety standards will help make that a reality while making certain that the public health and our environment are safeguarded.”
Upton’s charge for improved pipeline safety standards followed the July 25, 2010, Enbridge pipeline rupture in Marshall, Michigan, a city east of Upton’s congressional district, which resulted in the spill of 20,000 barrels of oil into the Talmadge Creek, a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. Upon receiving notification of the spill, Upton worked aggressively with local officials and state and federal agencies to mitigate the incident’s impact on public health, property, and the environment.
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