Line Five pipeline was close to bursting

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Enbridge, who operates two oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac, says one of the lines that was thought to be hit by a tugboat’s anchor was “extremely close to bursting”. An Enbridge official said the line was just two-hundredths of an inch away from rupturing. The pipelines, which run underneath the straits just west of the Mackinac Bridge are each 20 inches in diameter with their walls nearly an inch thick. The twin oil pipelines transport primarily crude oil between Superior, Wisconsin and Sarnia, Ontario.