Repair to severed Mackinac Straits electrical cables complete

NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
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MACKINAW CITY, MICH. - The Unified Command announced that work on the remaining Consumers Energy cables was completed, Tuesday, and that the multi-agency response on the Straits of Mackinac has concluded.

Crews contracted by Consumers Energy capped the remaining two retired cables, which featured no free flowing fluid, and returned them to the bottom of the Straits where they were secured by concrete mats placed on top of the cables.

Last week, damaged ATC cables were secured with concrete mats after being capped and returned to the bottom of the Straits.

“Since the beginning of this response, the Unified Command, together with the many federal, state, local and tribal partners, worked diligently to mitigate any pollution threat to our Straits and precious wildlife, and to be transparent in our efforts, said Cmdr. Shaun Edwards, Incident Commander. “Although our mission is complete, we all remain committed to learning the cause this incident and doing our best to eliminate any threat of something like this happening again.”

During the response, the Coast Guard and other agencies continually surveyed the Straits from the water, the air and from the shoreline. There have been no reports of pollution or inured wildlife.  

The cause of the incident remains under investigation by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. Results of the investigation will be made public once investigation has been completed.

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