Underwater Utility Line May Have Been Damaged

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From the Associated Press — A Michigan electric utility says decommissioned power cables it owns beneath the waterway connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan may have been damaged in the same incident that ruined two cables belonging to another company. Consumers Energy said Thursday it was notified by American Transmission Co., which recently used an underwater vehicle to inspect a network of its cables on the floor of the Straits of Mackinac. Two had been severed in what state officials say was an April 1 tugboat anchor strike. The strike caused the release of 600 gallons of insulation fluid. Consumers says the inspection found potential damage to other cables in the
area. The company also says its cables were taken out of service in 1990 and would not experience a similar leak. The Jackson-based utility says it will do its own inspection.