Michigan Preps for Oil Pipeline Disaster; Maine Mayor Asks Feds for Help With Sex Abuse Allegations
The Mackinac Bridge connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. lphoto / Shutterstock.com
Also: Jindal looks to block local action on Confederate memorials and an email blacklist "glitch" in New Mexico.
Here’s some of what we’ve been reading today …
STRAITS OF MACKINAC, Michigan: There have been fears of an ecological disaster involving the twin underwater oil pipelines that connect Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas through the Straits of Mackinac connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Next month, according to The Grand Rapids Press , there will be the “mother of all drills” to see how the owners of the pipelines, Enbridge Inc., performs in a rapid response scenario involving a pipeline rupture:
The effort will happen Sept. 22-25 and involve hundreds of responders, more than a dozen boats, multiple helicopters, drones, underwater vehicles, wave gliders and other equipment designed to gauge real-time wind, wave and current data in the heavily trafficked waterway.
The pipelines have been under increasing environmental scrutiny though Enbridge says they are in excellent condition. [ The Grand Rapids Press / MLive.com ]
BIDDEFORD, Maine: Facing claims that the city of Biddeford, its police department and the state of Maine could not conduct an impartial investigation into sex abuse allegations lodged against former city police officers, Mayor Alan Casavant, the Portland Press Herald reports, has made a direct appeal to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch for federal guidance on the best way to investigate the allegations.
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: Gov. Bobby Jindal, disapproving of a vote by the New Orleans Historical District Landmarks Commission on Thursday to remove four Confederate monuments, is taking steps “to determine the legal authority he has as Governor to stop it,” his office said in a statement. [ New Orleans Advocate ]
SANTA FE, New Mexico: Was it a technical glitch or a concentrated effort to block emails? Democrats in New Mexico cried foul when their emails to the office of Secretary of State Dianna Duran, a Republican, bounced back with a blacklisted notification. As the Santa Fe New Mexican reports, the state’s Department of Information Technology had resolved a minor problem with the emails, though Democrats remained skeptical. [ Santa Fe New Mexican ]
SNOQUALMIE, Washington: Sometimes when a local jurisdiction proceeds on constructing a traffic roundabout, there are critics who argue that the traffic-calming measure isn’t needed or is confusing to motorists. But the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, The Seattle Times reports, is protesting the construction of a traffic roundabout near the famous Snoqualmie Falls because the land is sacred and should be protected. [ The Seattle Times ]
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty.
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