Did you know there is a massive 60-year-old oil pipeline running under Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, along the Straits of Mackinac? Did you know that up to 20 million gallons of oil travels through that pipeline a day and the operators have plans to expand the capacity without making significant updates? You might also be surprised to learn that most of the oil traveling through our pipelines comes from the Alberta tar sands. This panel will explain the issues and the regulatory framework governing oil pipelines as well as provide recommendations on ways we can safeguard our lakes from spills.

1. After the Marshall Spill:
Regulation of Oil
Pipelines
Sara Gosman
Lecturer, University of Michigan Law School
Healing Our Waters Conference
September 13, 2012

3. Hazardous Liquid Pipelines in Great
Lakes Region
28,834 miles
of hazardous
liquid
pipelines
278 incidents
in last 5 years
3.87 million
gallons of
liquids spilled
in last 5 years
Source: American Association of Oil Pipelines (map),
PHMSA Hazardous Liquid Flagged Incidents File - June
29, 2012 (data)

4. Great Lakes Region Incidents
Total Property
Total Hazardous Total Gallons Spilled Damage from
Total Miles of Liquid Pipeline from Hazardous Hazardous Liquid
Hazardous Liquid Incidents Liquid Pipelines Pipelines
State Pipelines 2007-2011 2007-2011 2007-2011
Illinois 7,423 86 974,946 $79,763,406
Indiana 3,718 32 134,148 $17,745,556
Michigan 2,784 27 1,334,718 $743,315,319
Minnesota 5,006 39 502,152 $10,699,821
New York 1,042 10 313,068 $15,401,391
Ohio 3,416 37 145,572 $14,845,314
Pennsylvania 2,763 24 188,622 $9,368,291
Wisconsin 2,682 23 279,594 $7,141,005
Great Lakes
State Totals 28,834 278 3,872,820 $898,280,103
Entire U.S. ~175,000 1,743 23,770,614 $1,410,880,684*
Data Source: PHMSA Hazardous Liquid Flagged Incidents File - June 29, 2012
*Significant incidents only

5. Significant Onshore Pipeline
Incidents: Great Lakes Region
Hazardous Liquid Gas Distribution Gas Transmission
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Data Source: PHMSA Flagged Incidents Files - June 29, 2012

6. Significant Onshore Pipeline
Incidents: Nationwide
Hazardous Liquid Gas Distribution Gas Transmission
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Data Source: PHMSA Flagged Incidents Files - June 29, 2012

7. Average Significant Incidents Per
Mile of Onshore Pipeline 2002-2011
0.001200
0.001000
0.000800
0.000600
0.000400
0.000200
0.000000
Hazardous Gas Gas
Liquid Distribution Transmission
U.S. 0.000666 0.000029 0.000184
Great Lakes States 0.000762 0.000071 0.000205
Illinois 0.000943 0.000066 0.000212
Michigan 0.000718 0.000054 0.000219
New York 0.000960 0.000063 0.000229
Data Sources: PHMSA Flagged Incidents Files - June
29, 2012, Annual Reports

8. Cause of Significant Incidents:
Great Lakes Region
Significant Incident Cause Breakdown
Great Lakes Region, Hazardous Liquid Onshore, 2002-2011
CORROSION
4% 8%
17% EXCAVATION DAMAGE
9% INCORRECT OPERATION
10%
MAT'L/WELD/EQUIP FAILURE
NATURAL FORCE DAMAGE
10%
OTHER OUTSIDE FORCE
42% DAMAGE
ALL OTHER CAUSES
Data Source: PHMSA Significant Incidents Files June 29, 2012

9. Summary of Data
Over the last ten years, significant incidents from
hazardous liquid pipelines in the Great Lakes Region:
• Have averaged about 21 incidents annually, and stayed
roughly the same;
• Have been very small per mile of pipe, but were
substantially higher than significant incidents per mile
for other types of pipelines; and
• Were caused most often by failures in pipeline materials
and equipment.

10. Legal Framework
Routing and Siting of New Pipelines
Operation and Maintenance of Existing Pipelines
Emergency Response Planning and Spill Reporting

11. Federal and State Authority
Federal Authority State Authority
Routing & Siting of New PHMSA prohibited from
May choose to regulate
Pipelines regulating
May conduct oversight
Interstate Exclusive authority to set
Operation & and inspections if
Pipelines standards
Maintenance certified by PHMSA
of Existing
Pipelines Intrastate May regulate if certified
Minimum standards
Pipelines by PHMSA
Emergency Exclusive authority to set
Likely preempted
Emergency plans standards
Response Facility May choose to regulate if
Planning & response Minimum standards standards are at least as
Spill plans stringent
Reporting Spill Nonexclusive authority May choose to require
Reporting

12. Federal Regulatory Weaknesses
• No consideration of the cumulative impact of pipeline
spills on the Great Lakes Basin;
• No review of the long-term risks of spills to
environmentally sensitive areas when new pipelines are
routed;
• No consideration of all environmentally sensitive areas
in managing existing pipeline risks, only those that are of
“high consequence;” and
• No specific requirements for facility response plans or
adequate review by staff to ensure that plans protect
environmentally sensitive areas.

13. The Status of Great Lakes State
Regulation
Facility
Routing & Interstate Intrastate Spill
Response
Siting Oversight Regulation Reporting
Plans
Illinois 
Indiana  
Michigan 
Minnesota    
New York   
Ohio 
Pennsylvania 
Wisconsin 

14. Recommendations
• The Great Lakes Commission should facilitate
discussions among the states and provinces to improve
pipeline regulation across the Great Lakes Basin.
• States should seek certification to regulate intrastate
pipelines and to oversee interstate pipelines. PHMSA
provides up to 80% of program funding and the rest may
be covered by operator fees.
• States should set stringent standards for pipeline
operators to submit response plans to the state and give
the public the opportunity to comment on the plans.
• All states should require pipeline operators to report
spills to the state at a low threshold.

15. Resources
• Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA
• Website: http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline
• The Pipeline Safety Trust
• Website: http://www.pstrust.org
• Carl Weimer, Executive Director, carl@pstrust.org
• The National Wildlife Federation
• Website: http://www.nwf.org/greatlakes
• Beth Wallace, Community Outreach Regional Coordinator,
wallaceb@nwf.org