Isle Royale Forums

There was an oil spill inthe straits. Not the pipeline that goes under the bridge but leaking oil from electric power transmission lines.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... inary.html

Since this is close to where I live, here are some things going on. The Coast Guard has established an Emergency Operations Center to deal with this. It is my understanding that one of the high voltage electrical transmission lines was damaged and was leaking a substance akin to mineral oil. Last I heard, none of the oil has surfaced nor is it believed to be an environmental hazard. The power lines have been shut down and the power company is clearing the line of the oil. Apparently, there is a sleeve around the transmission line that is filled with a coolant. That is what was leaking.

There was no leak in the Enbridge Line 5 that goes under the Straits. But, that line was dented. The current theory was that the damage to the high voltage transmission cable and the dents in Line 5 were caused by a commercial vessel, perhaps one that anchored in the area, but that is still under investigation. Time will tell.