Lambton County Council has gone on record in support of the continued safe operation of Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline.
Councillors passed a resolution Wednesday saying the pipeline running between Superior, Wisconsin and Sarnia is critical to the safe, efficient delivery of energy to residents, commerce and industry in the Great Lakes region.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley says the motion put forward by St. Clair Township Mayor Steve Arnold was endorsed unanimously.
"Not only did Lambton County endorse it, a large number of other community groups like the construction association, environmental association, the economic partnership have also come forward," says Bradley. "Because until this issue was just raised a couple of weeks ago, there was no awareness in Ontario that there was consideration to shutting this pipeline down. And if this pipeline was shut down, that's the worst case scenario, then that would have a devastating impact on jobs, not just in Sarnia-Lambton but across the province."
The county's position will be submitted to a Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board that is reviewing the future of the pipeline, built in 1953, that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
The board is gathering public comments on a study of alternatives to Line 5.
Bradley says "our own experience with pipelines in this community has been that they are the safest way, at this point, to transport materials."
-With files from Melanie Irwin