KALAMAZOO, MI — Tears streaming down her face, Larissa Touloupais locked eyes with stoic members of the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners.

It was all she could do for a time. Frustrated to the point of silence that the board does not address questions asked by citizens at the opening of each business meeting, Touloupais took a moment to gather her thoughts.

A draft resolution in support of shutting down two Enbridge Line 5 pipelines across the Straits of Mackinac failed to gather a consensus during a committee of the whole meeting. Commissioner Michael Quinn introduced the resolution, though he pulled it from the discussion after it was clear the resolution would not gather a majority.

In response, passionate citizens turned the county board’s business meeting into a pressure cooker Tuesday night.

“I know a resolution for Kalamazoo is not going to shut down the line right away but it will be one step forward,” Touloupais said. “Water is life. I don’t need to give any you more facts or statistics, all I can give you is a little piece of my heart.”

In the first hour of the meeting, tears were shed, tensions flared and one citizen was almost thrown out. Chair Dale Shugars called a recess to calm the anger in the room, but that did little to slow the momentum and discussion continued for another 30 minutes.

Though dozens spoke, they carried the same ultimatum to the podium: Take a stand against Enbridge Line 5, or the citizens will vote you out.

For the time being, Kalamazoo will not be joining 15 other counties, 24 cities and 26 townships that have passed resolutions to shut down Line 5. A vote was not scheduled Tuesday either way, but Quinn said he will try to gain more support for the resolution and reintroduce it at a later date.

Owned and operated by the Canadian oil transport company Enbridge Inc., the 64-year-old lines transport more than 20 million gallons of crude oil between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan each day.

The pipelines rest near some of Michigan’s most beloved and ecologically sensitive natural landmarks, including Mackinac Island, Beaver Island and sandy beaches along the Huron-Michigan shoreline.

Quinn said the consequences of a spill in the Straits of Mackinac are “too terrible to contemplate.”

Kalamazoo residents have a powerful reminder of what could go wrong. Many expressed a deep distrust for the Canadian company after one of Enbridge’s pipelines spilled 1.1 million gallons of heavy crude oil into the Kalamazoo River.

Seven years after the largest and most costly inland spill in American history, the incident remains fresh in the mind of citizens. Chris Wahmhoff literally carries the consequences of the spill with him every day.

After coming into contact with black oil in the river, he was diagnosed with several health and mobility complications. Three years later, four of his organs are affected and he must walk with a cane.

“For all of us in the crowd, we rely on each other; that’s how change happens,” Wahmhoff said. “(Commissioners) work for us, and it’s important that we remember that first. (The board) is a tool.”

Overall, there was a lot of anger in the room. As Jen Strebs, co-founder of local community group ProKzoo said “anger is the language of the unheard.”

Role of local government

Commissioners were split on whether it was even their place to get involved in the issue.

“My feeling on the resolution is it’s not relevant for this body at this time so I won’t support it,” said Board Chair Dale Shugars. “If some organization is legally doing their job and paying their taxes we have to be careful dipping in there. I don’t think these are evil people.”

Shugars said the resolution would be ineffectual, and was concerned of unintentional economic impacts on Kalamazoo-area businesses.

Quinn disagreed.

“What we want to do is raise the issue, raise people’s awareness of it and let the levels of government that do have the power to shut it down know that this is an issue of great concern to us,” he said.

Because the Kalamazoo River flows into the Great Lakes, and was directly affected by an Enbridge oil spill, Commissioner Julie Rogers said the county more than deserves to speak on the issue.

Rogers said she received a call from Larry Bell, founder of Bell’s Brewery Inc., who supports the resolution. In January, Bell publicly joined representatives of the craft beer, food and tourism industries to speak out against the pipelines.

In September 2016, the Kalamazoo City Commission said the potential for ecological disaster outweighs the benefits of the pipeline, unanimously agreeing to support legislative efforts to close it.

At some point, the state legislature will have to act, said Commissioner Kevin Wordelman. It will be important for them to know where the counties stand, he said.

Another point of contention was focused on a grant request to the Enbridge Donation Program, established as a settlement to the 2011 oil spill on the Kalamazoo River. The $45,000 grant would go toward an airboat and trailer for the county sheriff’s office to use in patrolling and perform rescues on the Kalamazoo River.

Commissioner Stephanie Moore wondered if the resolution would jeopardize the funding, but said she was not a “champion of Enbridge.”

“I think as passionate as many of us are, this may be a situation (where) we might be cutting off our nose despite our own face,” she said. “Do we care if our sheriff is able to access these dollars and build on this relationship to do this work, or is the priority to pass the resolution, which although (it) makes some powerful statements may not get us anything more than that?”

Commissioner Scott McGraw commended Enbridge for making such grants available to local units of government. He said the Canadian company has been a good community partner and responded well to the “tragic accident” along the Kalamazoo River in 2011.

Wordelman and some citizens agreed that the resolution and grant should be mutually exclusive. Wordelman said the county frequently passes resolutions directing the state and federal government, which also provide grants.

The commission agreed, voting 7-2 to submit the grant. Shugars and Commissioner Roger Tuinier had the only no votes.

For more information, check out this reportback from the County meeting from Fen Valley Earth First!: fenvalleyearthfirst.wordpress.com