Saginaw Trail Pipeline work helps preserve a species of special concern
SAGINAW—Consumers Energy is in phase three of a four-phase replacement of the Saginaw Trail Pipeline, which, when upgraded, will serve more than 1.8 million homes and businesses throughout Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
But the utility’s customers aren’t the only Michigan residents affected by the upgrade.
Prior to starting any major construction project, Consumers Energy enlists the aid of David Mifsud, a certified professional wetland scientist and ecologist, to look for animals of special concern or those who are rare. “If he finds any, he removes them and ensures their well-being,” Consumers Energy Environmental Engineer Lindsey Johnson told American Gas.
On the Saginaw Trail Pipeline, Mifsud discovered a Blanding’s turtle nest with two adults, a juvenile and several eggs. He relocated the nest to his backyard habitat, where the adults laid additional eggs that he incubated, hatched and raised.
“While the Blanding’s turtle isn’t endangered, it’s an animal of special concern in Michigan,” Johnson told us. Hatchlings and juvenile turtles suffer high mortality rates due to predators. “So, even though we weren’t legally required to rescue the nest, doing so was important to us. We try to do as little harm as possible to the environment.”
This spring, the juveniles had matured enough to be released in an area near where the adults were found, which Consumers Energy enhanced to give them a better chance for survival. Nearly a dozen Consumers Energy employees volunteered to help.
For now, the turtles are exploring their new world. “We didn’t band them or have any plans to track them,” Johnson told us. “We may go out in the area in a year or two to see if we find them. But they do tend to travel many miles to lay their eggs.” —Robert Bittner