Stories from our 2015 Enbridge Safety Report to the Community (Part 2)
“This is a drill: At 5:30 a.m., September 23, 2015, the Enbridge Control Center in Edmonton detected a pressure drop on Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac and immediately initiated an emergency shutdown, completing the shutdown and isolating the line within 10 minutes. An Enbridge staff member dispatched to the location has confirmed an oily sheen on the water. Repeat, this is a drill.”
Last fall, those words kicked off one of the largest emergency response drills in Enbridge’s 65-plus-year history at the location where our Line 5 pipeline crosses the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
After eight months of planning and preparation involving a dozen organizations—from Enbridge, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulators, first responders and a local Native American community—hundreds of participants arrived on site in St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, MI, for two days of intensive training before the drill began.
“We selected the Straits of Mackinac because we know that our neighbors there care deeply about protecting the Great Lakes and the local environment, and have lots of questions and concerns about the safety and reliability of Line 5 where it crosses the Straits,” says Mike Koby, Enbridge’s vice president of enterprise safety and operational reliability.
“By holding the drill in a community that is watching us closely, with media and observers on hand, we tested and sharpened our emergency preparedness—and also, we hope, demonstrated how committed we are and the resources and planning we have in place to protect the environment from harm.”
Over the course of the day, more than 600 participants, observed by representatives of more than 20 agencies and community organizations, took part in drill activities that included:
- Deploying thousands of feet of protective boom in open water and at key control points;
- Positioning skimmers, pumps and vacuum trucks; and
- Coordinating the actions of 20 boats and larger vessels, including the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alder.
Behind the front lines of the exercise, a unified command team oversaw the other aspects of the drill using the Incident Command System, practicing the planning and interagency integration required to deliver a safe and effective response.
“We do everything we can to prevent incidents before they occur, but if they do, we are determined to be ready to respond with comprehensive plans in place and the right resources and trained personnel on standby,” says Koby.
“This drill gave us a chance to test and refine our Straits of Mackinac Tactical Response Plan, practice open-water containment and recovery, and strengthen our skills in the Incident Command System.”
The full-scale exercise in the Straits of Mackinac also helped build important relationships with other responding agencies that would be critical during a real incident, and boost the training and expertise of Enbridge’s company-wide Enterprise Emergency Response Team.
“Ultimately, emergency response preparedness is like insurance,” says Koby. “We hope we never have to use it, but we invest in hundreds of drills, exercises and equipment deployments each year so that we’re ready if it’s ever needed."
(TOP PHOTO: More than 600 participants took part in Enbridge's emergency response drill in Michigan's Straits of Mackinac in September 2015.)
