Pipeline disaster 'imminent,' warns Sault Tribe chairman

The following is excerpted from a statement made yesterday by Aaron A. Payment, tribal chairperson of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Payment was speaking to a news conference at Trinity Episcopal Church on Mackinac Island, at which conservation groups called for immediate closure of Enbridge Inc's oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac.

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I just introduced myself to you in our traditional way, which was to tell you where I'm from (Bawating - Sault Ste. Marie), and also to give thanks to our Mother Earth and our water.

That is in my daily prayer.

Our traditional Anishinabe way is to give thanks and prayers for those, because we get our existence from the ahki and also our water.

The water represents the lifeblood of Mother Earth.

It is critical to our existence.

The Great Lakes represents 20 percent of the world's freshwater supply.

This is a very critical issue for me and for my tribe.

My tribe is a fishing tribe.

We have been here since time immemorial.

It's our job and our duty as Anishinabe people to be stewards and to protect our natural resources.

I also wanted to let you know that I am the chairperson of the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, which is a coalition of five tribes that protects our natural resources in partnership with the state and the federal government.

Of the 12 tribes in Michigan, eight have passed resolutions to call for the decommission of this pipeline.

Another four are in the process of passing legislation to do that.

The Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority has also passed legilsation to call for the decommission of this pipeline.

I want to share a little bit of personal experience with you, because I was the executive director at the Huron Band of Potawatomi in Kalamazoo when [Enbridge's 2010] spill happened.

There was no emergency response plan for this.

It was complete pandemonium and chaos.

Federal agencies were all pointing the finger at each other and trying to figure out whose responsibility it was.

There were evacuations.

Up to 300 people had to be evacuated from their homes because of the toxic fumes.

There was a danger of this to ignite.

It was complete chaos.

Nobody knew what they were doing.

There was no plan.

We don't want this to happen in our community here, in the straits.

We believe that a spill in the straits area of this pipeline is imminent.

This pipeline is older than the pipeline that already ruptured.

You heard about a number of the ruptures that happened.

It's kind of a normal course for oil companies to have ruptures.

It's a cost of doing business.

They calculate it.

They probably budget for it as well.

Mackinac is an Objiwe word for turtle.

In these depictions, Mackinac Island will be completely engulfed in oil.

Within the amount of time that this unfolds, the island will be engulfed.

The water inlets will be completely destroyed.

There will be a very narrow window for people to be evacuated.

The island gets its resources for food from the mainland and that will not be able to happen.

A period, we estimate up to three to four weeks, the island would have to be evacuated.

RIght now, if this happened during the Detroit Chamber [Mackinac Policy Conference], I would venture to guess about 40 percent of the island's revenue in their tourism industry would be destroyed.

This is what is imminent.

This is what is actually going to happen.

As a chairman of a tribe, we had a consultation exercise with the [Michigan] Department of Environmental Quality just yesterday.

My inpiut was: Has their been a risk assessment?

If a spill were to happen in this area, what would that look like?

What would the cost be?

And how much are you insured for?

It would surprise people to know that Enbridge is only ensured for $1 million.

If a spill were to happen, they're prepared to cover $1 million.

In the Kalamazoo River, which is somewhat of a contained space compared to where we are, the cost so far is $75 million.

I asked for a risk assessment and for the insurance to match the liability if a spill were to happen.

That is the cost of doing business.

Having Enbridge self-regulate themselves is not working right now.

It hasn't worked in Kalamazoo.

It isn't going to work here.

Also, I want to call your attention to, there's a house bill working its way through the Michigan Legislature, which has a house, a senate and a governor all of one party, which doesn't allow for a balance, House Bill 4540 is designed to conceal and keep secret the information as it comes forward relarted to Enbridge.

At the [Michigan Petroleum Pipeline] Task Force, we have given you more information than the state even knew about.

When we've asked them questions, they didn't even know about the permits, they didn't have a copy of the lease or the easement.

It's a shame that a coalition of concerned citizens knows more than the state.

Last year during the campaign, the governor created a task force.

Here we are a year later.

We went through the preliminary results of the task force and they asked our opinions.

They're really not that much further than they were a year ago when they created this task force.

Also, the clean-up.

Even if we were assured that the total cost would be covered through insurance, five years later, they're finally paying off some of the damage that was done in Kalamazoo.

That's not good enough.

And so I want to wrap up by saying, if any of the media gets the chance to ask the governor today, what is his position on House Bill 4540?

We've asked him....and the response from his staff was that the governor doesn't take a position on draft legislation.

That's up to the legislature.

What we're looking for is some leadership.

He's the governor of a state that is surrounded by water.

Certainly he has an opinion and he should step forward and he should make it clear that if this bill were to pass to conceal information from citizens, that he would veto that bill.

Hopefull somebody will ask him that question.

The Sault Tribe remains a steadfast partner in this effort

We have a lot at stake.

I'm from a fishing family,

My father was a fisherman.

But not only are tribal fishers and our livelihood at risk, the sports fishers need to take notice of this as well.

Beause, it we look forward and this disaster happens, gone will be the whitefish and also the walleye.

Citizens need to become more aware of this issue and ask their legislators and ask the governor to take strong position to keep Pure Michigan pure.

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Earlier SooToday coverage of this story

Emergency in the Straits of Mackinac