U.S. Sen. Gary Peters will host a hearing Monday in Traverse City on oil spill and response efforts in the Great Lakes. The meeting will be centered around the controversial Line 5 pipeline in the straits of Mackinac.
Peters says oil spill preparedness - at both the state and federal levels - is poor.
“I don’t think they’re very prepared at all,” Peters says. “We have to do a better job of understanding how we clean up these accidents.”
Representatives from federal and state programs will attend the meeting with business leaders. Peters says this conversation has national implications.
“This is an important topic, not just for the straits of Mackinac and the Great Lakes, but all of the freshwater bodies all across the country that could be exposed to an oil spill, either from a pipeline or a rail car or a semi truck,” Peters says.
The hearing is set for Monday at 10 a.m. in the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City.
