By Blue Water Healthy Living
Jim Bloch, a regular contributor to Blue Water Healthy Living, recently won third place for environmental reporting in the Detroit Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists’ annual “Excellence in Journalism” awards.
Bloch’s award came in the digital division for three stories about Line 5, the controversial effort by energy transportation giant Enbridge to encase a petroleum pipeline in a tunnel under the straits of Mackinac.
Roughly 542,000 barrels of light crude and natural gas liquids per day flow through Line 5 on their 645 mile route from Superior, Wisconsin to Marysville, Michigan. A 30 inch pipeline runs through the Upper Peninsula to St. Ignace, where it divides into two 20-inch pipes that carry the petroleum products along the lakebed of the Straits, before combining back into one pipe for its run through the Lower Peninsula to Marysville, where it crosses under the St. Clair River in a pipeline directionally drilled below the riverbed in 2020.
The pipeline is 70 years old, about two decades older than its original estimated lifespan.
SPJ-Detroit announced the reporting awards May 15.
Bloch’s three stories were: “Wisconsin judge gives Enbridge three years to decommission Line 5 through Bad River” (https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/wisconsin-judge-gives-enbridge-three-years-to-decommission-line-5-through-bad-river-reservation/); “MPSC approves Enbridge’s plan for tunnel under Straits of Mackinac to house Line 5” (https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/mpsc-approves-enbridges-plan-for-tunnel-under-straits-of-mackinac-to-house-line-5/); and “A look at 1971 water tunnel explosion in Fort Gratiot and the proposed Line 5 tunnel in the Straits” (https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/a-look-at-1971-water-tunnel-explosion-in-fort-gratiot-and-the-proposed-line-5-tunnel-in-the-straits/).
Nina Ignaczak, Brian Allnutt, Sarah Alvarez, Koby Levin and Quinn Banks with Planet Detroit + Outlier Media took first place with their “Exhausted in Detroit: Our air quality problem.”
“This series stands out for its comprehensive and compelling exploration of Detroit’s air quality crisis,” said the judges, who commented on the first place story. “It expertly weaves together data-driven reporting, heart-wrenching personal stories, and community-led action, providing a multi-faceted examination of a deeply important environmental issue. The series goes far beyond simply reporting air pollution as a problem. It delves into the historical roots, present-day disparities in exposure, and the devastating health consequences.”
Kelly House and Paula Gardner of Bridge Michigan took second place for their “Michigan’s Industrial Legacy: Taxpayers fund new factories and cleanups at old ones.”House also won fourth place with her “Once beset by industrial pollution, Rouge River on a slow path to recovery.”
