DETROIT, MI (AP)-- A conservation organization has begun the process required for it to sue the U.S. Transportation department, saying the agency has failed to require pipeline owners to come up with safety response plans for worst-case oil spills.
The National Wildlife Federation said it filed the required "intent to sue" notice Tuesday through certified mail to the agency.
It says the Transportation Department has not come up with requirements or given approval of response plans for inland water pipelines as required by the 1990 Oil Pollution Act.
The group says the notice "is the first legal action in the effort to protect the Great Lakes from two pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac" in Michigan.