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Lame ducks threaten G. Lakes

To the editor:

This month, the lame duck Legislature is working hard to undermine good governance. Regardless of where you stand regarding Line 5 and the proposed tunnel, we can all agree that any decision requires thoughtful deliberation.

Transferring decision-making abilities to the Mackinaw Bridge Authority undermines our incoming representatives and rushes a hugely important decision. We as Michiganders know how important the Great Lakes are. They sustain us. Each summer we cool of with a swim at the beach, camp along their shores, enjoy beautiful sunsets, and catch the fish that call the lakes their home. A Line 5 failure could ruin these opportunities.

A recent report determined that so many variables affect an oil spill it is impossible to determine a single worst-case scenario. In all the different Line 5 failure scenarios, thousands of gallons of oil is released and distributed throughout Lakes Michigan and Huron.

If the failure occurs on a windy day, about 47 percent of the oil spilled will be unable to be recovered. The cleanup could drag on for months. Oil will wash up on shore and harm the plants and animals nearby.

Homeowners with shoreline property will be affected; it will also ruin habitat in the area. There are 60,000 acres of rare or unique habitat at risk when the pipeline fails. Forty-seven species with conservation status would be affected. Costs to restore the ecological damage could range from $165 -327 billion. We can not allow our representatives to quickly make a decision that could result in a catastrophe or the Great Lakes.

Please join me in calling state Rep. Scott Dianda at 517-373-0850 or 888-663-4031 and urging legislators to do their job and deliberate decisions about Line 5 in a responsible, transparent, and ethical way. If we rush this decision, we might not get another chance to protect the Great Lakes from an oil spill.

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