By Jessica Murphy, the Canadian Press

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MONTREAL – the potential for pipeline failure poses a threat to the Great Lakes that could have wide-ranging economic and ecological consequences, says a key international body.

The International Joint Commission says lax monitoring procedures, inaccurate spill detection and poor cross-border communication and co-operation leave the system providing water for 40 million people vulnerable to spills of chemicals like crude oil.

“We advise strongly that governments — and that includes the provincial and state governments — need to get a much better handle on the viability of this vast network of pipelines,” the commission’s U.S. chair, Lana Pollack, told the Canadian Press.

“We know there’s reason for the government and the public to be concerned.”

The commission oversees boundary waters shared by the United States and Canada.

Pollack and her Canadian counterpart Joe Comuzzi, sent a letter earlier this month to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging them to act on a series of proposals made by the commission in a 2006 report on spills in the Great Lakes.

The report offers six recommendations for both governments that would streamline management and co-operation of the shared water basin as well as improve spill detection and clarify legislation surrounding compensation for cleanup costs of major spills.

The commissioners were spurred into action by the rupture of a pipeline owned by Calgary-based gas giant Enbridge.

The break flooded a tributary of Michigan’s Kalamazoo River with more than three million litres of oil, something Pollack calls a “glaring failure.”

Following the Kalamazoo spill, U.S. regulators criticized Enbridge for insufficient monitoring of corrosion on its lines.

“It’s a red flag to say the least,” Pollack said. “To say: ‘All is not well.’ if all were well, this would not have happened.”

Residents of eight U.S. states and two provinces rely on the lakes — Huron, Erie, Ontario, Superior and Michigan — for public water supplies, agricultural irrigation, industry, energy and recreation.

The lakes are also an economic driver, bringing in billions of tourism dollars and helping to generate 25 per cent of Canadian agricultural production.

Pollack maintains the number of jurisdictions with interests in the lakes has created a patchwork regulatory system that doesn’t adequately protect business, people or the environment.

“There’s the thought that: ‘Someone else will take care of this,’” she said. “Shared responsibility should not be an excuse for one entity to duck its responsibility.”

Pipelines crossing the border are regulated separately by section depending on the portion in each country.

The National Energy Board regulates pipeline activity within Canadian borders and requires companies to have an emergency response plan in place.

The Transportation and Safety Board is responsible for assessing and investigating incidents, while Environment Canada and Foreign Affairs are also involved in various aspects of pipeline management and regulation.

Pipeline companies are responsible for preventing ruptures on their systems and for cleaning up any spills that occur.

The energy board oversees 103 segments of pipelines within one kilometre of the Great Lakes that connects to various water courses and the St. Lawrence River.

These segments — many parts of the same pipeline networks — carry natural gas, crude oil, gas liquids, jet fuel, diesel, propane and butane.

Energy board spokeswoman Sarah Kiley confirmed staff will meet with or inspect all the companies that have facilities in the Great Lakes region.

A report on the energy board website notes the primary cause of ruptures on pipelines it regulated between 1991 and 2008 was corrosion due to cracking and metal loss.

Still, since 2006, Canada and the United States have taken small steps to rectify some of the problems including a decision last year to renegotiate the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement — a 38-year-old commitment between the two countries to protect the lakes’ ecosystem.

The commission and environmentalists hope the talks will mean some of their concerns will be dealt with.

But Pollack and Fe de Leon, a researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Association, say neither government has shown much interest so far in tackling the challenges.

“The two countries could be doing much better,” de Leon said. “there are some real gaps in terms of dealing with some real issues.”

Pollack said neither Cannon nor Clinton has yet answered the letter, although Foreign Affairs spokesman Alain Cacchione said in an email the minister had received the letter and would respond.

“Canada has strong environmental laws and standards, a robust safety regime and an experienced regulator in the National Energy Board,” he added.

But Pollack maintains the latest pipeline rupture in the United States should send a message to lawmakers that it’s time to pay closer attention to the underground infrastructure carrying chemicals across the continent.

“It may take a spill of this magnitude — and the mess in the Gulf — to advance real reforms,” she said.

“It’s no longer just words on paper. It’s oil in the water in massive quantities.”

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