Schuette asks feds to reject pipeline permit

State Attorney General Bill Schuette wants the federal government to reject an energy company’s request for permission to use a 98-year-old pipeline to ship crude oil. The pipes run beneath the Saint Clair River on the border between Michigan and Ontario. Andrea Bitely is Schuette’s press secretary. She says not enough is known about the safety of a pipe built in 1918 that’s never been used before to ship crude oil. And a spill would contaminate a drinking water source for millions of people. “We don’t necessarily need to be using these 98-year-old pipelines that have not been used for this purpose.” The energy company says the application is simply a technical requirement to reflect a change in ownership and there are no plans to use the pipes to ship crude oil. Plains All American Pipeline also says the pipes were updated in the 1970s. I’m Rick Pluta at the state Capitol