Michigan Senators are asking the Department of Transportation to make sure oil pipelines beneath the Great Lakes are classified as offshore.
This is so the owners of the pipeline would have to pay the full cost of a cleanup for an oil spill.
Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow requested the classification in a letter sent to the U.S. Transportation Secretary on Tuesday, referring to the Enbridge pipeline that runs underneath the Straits of Mackinac.
The Senators are urging for the change because under the Oil Pollution Act, liability cleanup costs for onshore operations are capped at $634 million.
