Senators want higher liability for Great Lakes oil spills

5/24/2016

Michigan's senators are asking the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines crossing underneath the Great Lakes are classified as "offshore" so that owners would have to pay the full costs of cleaning a spill

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s U.S. senators want the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines crossing underneath the Great Lakes are treated as “offshore” and not “onshore” to ensure the owners will have to pay the full cost of a cleanup if there is a spill.

Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, sent U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx a letter on Tuesday urging him to make sure underwater pipeline segments in and around the Great Lakes are classified as separate “offshore” facilities.
 
The senators wrote the finding has “significant consequence,” because under the Oil Pollution Act the liability for cleanup costs for owners or operators of onshore facilities are capped at $634 million, “whereas companies operating pipelines classified as offshore facilities are required to demonstrate they have sufficient resources to pay for all cleanup costs.”

Read more: