Remote controlled underwater vehicles being launched to inspect damaged ATC, Enbridge lines

As the inspection of damage to the troubled Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 and the American Transmission Co.’s (ATC) electrical transmission lines in the Straits of Mackinac continues, Michigan agencies are now planning to launch remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to further the investigation.

Residents near the area were warned this week of increased activity as a result. The vehicles will be operated by the companies involved but overseen by Unified Command (UC) – a collaboration between the U.S. Coast Guard, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), ATC, and a tribal representative. That collaboration was launched when the state became aware of a mineral oil release from stricken ATC cables.

Both the ATC lines and Enbridge’s adjacent, twin, 20-inch lines potentially received their damage from a vessel strike. Thus far, UC contends no major environmental impact on either the straits or wildlife has resulted. Yet assessments are ongoing, and crews are still vacuuming up remaining mineral oils from the nearly 600 gallons that leaked earlier this month. Once assessments are completed, a plan will address mitigating future environmental impacts.

While tests for the latest trouble with Line 5 continue and Enbridge maintains that it has found no evidence of fluid loss therein, the company has come under continuous fire from legislators and residents due to previous events and its handling of them. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has thus far resisted calls for immediate shutdown of Line 5 and he has called on Enbridge to accelerate identification of anchor strike mitigation measures and an evaluation of alternatives to the pipelines. Those studies are scheduled for completion in June, though the state has had its own independent experts investigating as well.

(Editor’s Note: A previous state press release incorrectly implied it was the UC which would be operating the ROVs. This article has since been updated to reflect that the vehicles will be operated by their respective companies, with the Coast Guard, as part of the UC, overseeing.)