Michigan leaders said they formed a multi-agency safety panel to vet concerns about pipelines transporting petroleum products around the state.
Enbridge pipeline Line 6b ruptured in southern Michigan in 2010, resulting in one of the worst incidents of onshore oil pollution in U.S. history. Late last year, the company said it was sending another 50,000 barrels of oil per day through a 60-year-old pipeline that runs beneath the Mackinac Bridge in the Straits of Mackinac.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced they'd co-chair the Great Lakes Petroleum Pipeline Task Force to review pipeline concerns in the state.
"We're launching this pro-active effort to safeguard our natural resources by trying to avoid tragedy before it strikes," Schuette said in a statement Thursday. "The task force will serve as an advocate and voice for protecting the health, safety and welfare of Michigan citizens."
Formal oversight of oil and natural gas pipelines rests with the federal government.
In May, Wyant and Schuette issued an inquiry to Enbridge about the pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
Enbridge this week won approval from North Dakota to build an oil pipeline to the Wisconsin coast.
