A group of protests against the continued operation of the Canadian oil transportation giant Onkyo's Line 5 pipeline in the Strait of Mackinac posted a video on social media on Tuesday, showing its members entering Onkyo's property and closing the emergency shut-off valve to temporarily stop the disputed pipeline Oil and gas liquid flows.

Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy condemned the action, saying it was illegal and putting protesters and others at risk. Members of the protester group contacted Onkyo and told the company what they would do on Tuesday. Duffy said that Onkyo’s personnel shut down the flow of pipelines from its control center, “to protect the community, first responders and protesters. "

The Resist Line 3 Media Collective is a grassroots organization that opposes the construction of the Onbridge pipeline from western Canada to Superior Wisconsin — its members were arrested by hundreds of people during protests on this line — in the organization’s Social media platforms highlighted Tuesday’s action in Michigan. A spokesperson for an anonymous group stated that the Michigan protests were initiated by “self-governing individuals”, adding that “the action is not directly related to us. Relationship; we just want to scale up."

According to a press release from the Resist Line 3 team, the "Michigan Water Protector" closed the stop valve on the 68-year-old Line 5 pipeline "on the order of Governor Whitmer." Duffy said the valve closure occurred in the lower peninsula section of the pipeline, in the countryside of Tuskola County near Vaasa.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced in November last year that she would revoke Onkyo’s easement in 1954 and use the bottom of the lake for its pipeline on the grounds that “Onkyo’s ongoing and incurable violation of easement rights Terms and conditions" and the potential dangers of oil spills to Michigan’s environment and economy.

In May of this year, Onkyo continued to operate Line 5, ignoring Whitmer's suspension period, and publicly and in court declared that Michigan does not have the statutory power to regulate interstate oil and gas pipelines. Michigan is seeking to send the federal case back to Michigan court.

Earlier this month, the Canadian government invoked the 1977 pipeline treaty signed with the United States, seeking to suspend the U.S. District Court's lawsuit over the possible closure of Line 5, and called on the two countries to engage in bilateral negotiations to resolve any disputes.

A Twitter post from Release Line 3 quoted the Valve Turner as saying: "I know that my life is at risk due to the risk of leakage and the impact of climate change."

“Line 5 poses a direct threat to our lives and these actions are taken out of necessity and self-defense,” the masked valve opener said in a statement broadcast on Facebook Live before entering the property and closing the valve.

Duffy condemned the behavior in a statement.

"We respect the right of others to express opinions on the energy we use, but today's pipeline tampering incident involving Onkyo is not a legal protest. This is a criminal activity that puts humans and the environment at risk," he said.

"Unlawfully hacking into our facilities in Michigan and trying to tamper with the energy infrastructure is reckless and dangerous. The groups involved in today's incident claimed to protect the environment, but they did the opposite, putting people's safety at risk— Including themselves, first responders, and neighboring communities and landowners.

"We take this matter very seriously and will support the prosecution of all relevant personnel."

The protesters seem to know they have time to act. The Facebook live broadcast of the action lasted for an hour. A small group of people held up signs and cheered for the shutdown, because the rock band Only Lucky Once performed with electric guitars and loudspeakers outside the fence. The valve turner enters the pump station through the gap at the bottom of the lock door, and then uses a large wrench to manually close the emergency shut-off valve-this laborious process takes more than half an hour. There is a sign on the fence that says "No entry is prohibited", "High-pressure oil pipeline" and "High-pressure" of Onkyo Company.

Enbridge employees or security personnel were not seen in the entire video, and the video was also posted to the Instagram account of the Resist Line 3 team. The incident raised questions about pipeline monitoring and its reporting safety system with built-in redundancy and continuous monitoring, because there was no obvious response to the behavior witnessed in the hour-long incident. 

Duffy said that Enbridge does not expect the temporary closure of Line 5 to have any impact on oil and gas delivery to customers, and the pipeline will be put into operation again.

Line 5 transports 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids eastward through the Upper Peninsula every day, divided into two underwater pipelines that pass through the strait, and then returns to a single pipeline that passes through the Lower Peninsula, which extends south to Ontario Sarnia.

For many years, this pipeline, especially its submerged part of more than 4 miles in the strait, has been the focus of controversy.

In July 2010, Enbridge was responsible for one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history-a major spill on a large oil pipeline near Marshall in July 2010. The spill polluted more than 38 miles of the Kalamazoo River and took more than four years. One billion U.S. dollars was used for clean-up. In 2016, Enbridge agreed to a US$177 million settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, including a US$62 million fine related to the Marshall oil spill and the oil spill on another pipeline in Romeoville, Illinois in 2010 event.

Critics of the pipeline have long believed that a similar leak on Channel 5 will destroy the shoreline communities of the Great Lakes and Michigan's economy. Onkyo officials retorted that Line 5 is safe, and the US Interstate Pipeline Regulatory Agency also agreed.

Contact Keith Matheny: 313-222-5021 or kmatheny@freepress.com.