Enbridge talks Line 5 during NPGA webinar

Enbridge’s Line 5 light crude oil and natural gas liquids pipeline continues in operation today despite two challenges the Canadian-based energy transportation and delivery company, with operations throughout North America, faces in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Representatives from Enbridge spoke about the issues, current projects and the company’s overall operations during a National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) webinar in July.

In Michigan, Enbridge is working through permitting and legal challenges to build a tunnel spanning 4.5 miles under the Great Lakes that would house twin Line 5 pipelines currently sitting at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. In northern Wisconsin, the company is working through a legal dispute with the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa. The Indigenous community seeks the removal of the pipeline that traverses about 20 miles of its reservation, the company notes.

Enbridge says it remains confident that it will continue to operate Line 5 and that it ultimately will be successful with its projects and lawsuits.

Rail safety

In the aftermath of the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Congress continues to consider rail safety measures, reports Steve Kaminski, president and CEO of NPGA, during the Propane Education & Research Council’s summer meeting in Big Sky, Montana. Propane is treated as a Class 2 hazardous material for rail, Kaminski notes, but one of the provisions in the legislation would make propane a Class 3 when four or more cars are linked.

“All of a sudden, you’re looking at more passthrough costs,” he says. “We’re lobbying against that and aiming to push that to 20-plus cars.”

While NPGA says it supports the effort of Congress to enact rail safety legislation, it has sent letters to several senators highlighting concerns in the Railway Safety Act of 2023. Among these, it adds, are costly regulatory burdens that would impact the movement of essential energy products, including propane.

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