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Ashland County health board discusses Line 5 public-health concerns, agrees to consider a June agenda item
Summary
Board members urged adding a discussion of Line 5/Enbridge to a future agenda to allow public comment on water-quality, PFAS and community impacts; staff said environmental regulation lies with DNR and law enforcement but that well testing and certain monitoring fall within public health responsibilities.
Several board members asked the Health & Human Services board to add an item about Line 5/Enbridge to tonight’s agenda so the public could raise concerns about water quality, PFAS and other environmental or social impacts. Director Terry Barnehan said she had spoken with a county contact (Dan Grady) who advised that many of the regulatory and enforcement matters would be handled by law enforcement and the Department of Natural Resources; the department would principally serve a response role if incidents occurred.
Board members pushed back that some elements — for example, private-well monitoring and well-testing — clearly intersect with public health and fall under existing department contracts (the department has a contract with DNR for well testing). Members agreed it would be reasonable to include the topic on a future agenda to allow public comment, and that if no one showed up to comment, the board would simply skip the item. The board did not take formal action beyond agreeing to consider adding the item to an upcoming meeting (the June 17 meeting was later set as the next session and public hearing).
