MPSC approves, with modifications, Wolverine Pipe Line 
Company application


July 23, 2002

The Michigan Public Service Commission today approved 
Wolverine Pipe Line Company's application, with significant 
modifications, to construct, operate, and maintain a 12-inch 
liquid petroleum products pipeline system.  The 26-mile pipeline 
will commence at the intersection of Wolverine's existing 8-inch 
pipeline near Meridian Road and I-96,  Ingham County, continue 
west and north within the corridor provided by the Interstate 96 
right-of-way and terminate at the Marathon Ashland Petroleum, 
LLC, terminal in Clinton County.   The longest portion of the 
pipeline, about 22 miles, will proceed within the I-96 corridor, 
thus avoiding placement in a densely populated area and limiting 
access to the area and potential third-party damage, the most 
significant cause of pipeline incidents.   The route has no 
residences within 50 feet of the pipeline and few within 150 
feet of the pipeline.

The Commission concluded that Wolverine has demonstrated a 
need for the proposed pipeline system and found that the system 
is designed and routed in a reasonable manner, as required by 
Public Act 16 of 1929.  The pipeline should ensure sufficient 
supplies of gasoline for the mid-Michigan area.   The pipeline 
will connect with a pipeline approved by the Commission on 
March 7, 2001.  In the earlier case, the Commission approved 
Wolverine's application to construct, operate, and maintain a 12- 
and 16-inch liquid petroleum products pipeline system in Jackson, 
Ingham, and Clinton counties, as modified by the company's 
request to withdraw the part of the proposed 12-inch line between 
I-96 and LaPaugh station in Bengal Township, Clinton county. 

Today's order approved Wolverine's application, contingent on 
the company's commitment to construct the pipeline in a manner
that meets in all respects, and exceeds in several respects, the 
requirements imposed by the federal government, which is 
responsible for overseeing pipeline safety.   The Commission 
also directed Wolverine Pipe Line to take additional safety measures 
by establishing sentinel wells in the area identified as not having a 
continuous confining clay layer, as recommended by the City of 
Lansing.   Further, Wolverine will be required to place a valve at 
each border of the Mason Esker crossed by the pipeline as a further 
protection of the city's wells and public water supply. 

The Commission noted that Wolverine has committed to exceeding 
federal pipeline safety standards in the following respects:

        *The pipeline will be thicker walled than mandated;
        *The pipeline will be buried at least four feet under 
          ground, which is 12 inches deeper than required;
        *Wolverine will conduct weekly inspections, twice 
          the frequency required;
        *Wolverine will use redundant pressure control devices 
          that are monitored constantly;
        *The company will install valves and gaskets throughout 
          the system that are of higher quality than required; and
        *The company will take measures to monitor the internal 
          integrity of the pipeline at least every 5 years.

The Commission carefully reviewed the record in this proceeding, 
including the testimony offered by the City of Lansing and Mayor 
David Hollister and Ingham County Commissioner Lisa Dedden.  
It also reviewed all statements from 21 members of the public 
taken at the public hearing and the 20 letters from interested 
persons expressing their opinions about the proposed pipeline. 

Wolverine, headquartered in Houston, Texas, operates about 
1,100 miles of liquid product pipelines in the Midwest.

The MPSC is an agency within the Department of Consumer and 
Industry Services.


Case No. U-13225