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Peters and Stabenow announce bills to make oil pipelines safer for the Great Lakes

A diver finishes anchoring the support in place on the Line 5 pipeline.
Mark Brush
/
Michigan Radio
A diver finishes anchoring the support in place on the Line 5 pipeline.

Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow announced Wednesday they will introduce a package of bills aimed at making oil pipelines safer for the Great Lakes.

Peters says the bills will address the unique needs of the Great Lakes.

"Senator Stabenow and I are very concerned about this threat, and we're teaming up to create a package of legislation to hold Great Lakes pipeline operators to the highest standard possible," Peters said.

The bills will address the special needs of the Great Lakes. They also want to make oil companies take more responsibility in the event of a spill.

Peters says improving the safety of oil and gas pipelines should be a bipartisan issue.

"Given the fact that we are blessed to live along the shores of the Great Lakes, we know that any sort of oil spill in the Great Lakes would be absolutely catastrophic," Peters said.

The senators referenced the devastating 2010 Kalamazoo oil spill as a driving factor for creating the bill package.

Copyright 2017 Michigan Radio

Kathleen Davis is currently completing her senior year at the University of Michigan, where she studies Political Science and International Studies. She previously worked at the Michigan Daily for four years, where she wrote about art and culture and was the 2015 Managing Arts Editor.