Portage-based Wolverine Pipe Line Co. recently announced the new Detroit Metro Access Pipeline is in service. The first commercial volume shipped Monday, March 6, and is approximately 34 miles of 16-inch diameter pipeline, which connects to an existing Wolverine line and enables the company to deliver refined petroleum products from the Chicago area to consumers in metro Detroit.
“There is a demand for additional gasoline and diesel fuel in the Detroit metropolitan area,” says Saul Flota, Wolverine Pipe Line Company President. “The DMAP connects to our existing pipeline so we can bring gasoline products into Southeast Michigan from refineries in the Chicago market. The new line was built to meet and often exceed federal and state regulatory requirements. We are committed to operating our pipelines in a safe, reliable and environmentally responsible manner protecting people, environment and property while satisfying the needs of our customers, and ultimately the motoring public.”
Construction of the DMAP was completed in January and final pre-operational testing was conducted last month. The final phase of DMAP, restoration of the right-of-way, will be done this spring. Wolverine’s newly constructed pipeline runs form Schneider Road in Washtenaw County’s Freedom Township to its Detroit Metro Station in Romulus. At Romulus, the pipeline connects to an existing Wolverine line that continues to Woodhaven in Southwestern metro Detroit.
With the new DMAP, Wolverine now has nearly 700 miles of pipeline in active service and can transport up to 90,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel fuel products per day from the Chicago area to metro Detroit. The creation of the DMAP generated 300 construction jobs and six permanent positions at Wolverine. Workers spent approximately $4 million locally on fuel, materials, lodging, and food during the planning and construction of the pipeline, and also provided an estimated $100,000 in local tax revenues and approximately $1.2 million in income taxes annually for Michigan.
Wolverine was incorporated in Portage in 1952 and currently has 67 employees throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.
