A "market-based" solution to prevent an Enbridge spill in the Great Lakes

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff

Published December 23, 2014 at 11:05 AM EST

A dive team works on Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac.

The oil spill disaster on the Kalamazoo River got many in Michigan wondering about the state of Michigan's oil and gas pipelines.

In particular, people want to know more about the 61-year old Enbridge oil pipeline crossing the Straits of Mackinac.

Enbridge says the pipeline in the Straits is in fine shape. A break in that pipeline could be a catastrophe for the Great Lakes.

Ken Winter and James Hill have an idea they think could protect the Great Lakes from oil spills. They say a "market-based" approach will work.

Ken Winter teaches at North Central Michigan College, and James Hill is a former Michigan Natural Resources Commissioner. They wrote about their idea for Bridge Magazine.