State agencies have weighed in on the controversial Enbridge Line 5 pipeline.
The pipeline sends oil and liquid natural gas across beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
In June, an independent agency released a draft report about possible alternatives to the decades-old pipeline.
The state agencies suggested improvements for the final draft. For example, what happen if a small hole slowly leaked oil out of the line?
Melody Kindraka is with the state Department of Environmental Quality. She says the report will play a role in deciding the future of the line.
“For it to be a very valuable resource it needs to cover a lot of the different parts that are associated with this issue.”
She says it’s important for citizens who are not experts to share their concerns.
“So that they get an understanding of the information that’s in there and can provide information that they feel is relevant to the future of not only the energy that comes through Line 5 but also the resources in the area.”
“The natural resources component, the environmental quality component, the energy component are all different pieces that play into this larger conversation. So it’s very important that we have all of those pieces represented.
People can still go online and comment until mid-August. Kindraka says the company plans to have a final draft of the report in the fall.