Michigan lawmaker wary of Enbridge plans

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LANSING, Mich., July 19 (UPI) -- A Michigan lawmaker expressed concern about plans by pipeline company Enbridge to expand an oil pipeline network in her state two years after a spill.

State Rep. Kate Segal, D-Battle Creek, teamed with members of the National Wildlife Federation to express concern over plans by Enbridge to expand an oil pipeline network in the state.

"We're asking for an environmental impact assessment ... before the expansion happens so we know how the pipeline could affect our natural resources across our Great Lakes state and other Great Lakes region states," she was quoted by regional news Web site Mlive.com as saying.

Enbridge aims to replace hundreds of miles of Line 6B under a $268 million plan that would upgrade the pipeline's safety features and increase its volume to 500,000 barrels of oil per day.

Federal regulators are investigating the 2010 rupture of Line 6B, part of the Enbridge-operated Lakehead pipeline system. The National Transportation Safety Board found Enbridge knew of a defect on the pipeline five years before it burst open and spilled around 20,000 barrels of oil into southern Michigan waters.

About two dozen protesters gathered at the state capital to protest Enbridge. Further demonstrations are scheduled for Wednesday, the second anniversary of the spill.