Niles Charter Township will send a police officer to patrol the site where Canadian oil company Enbridge is housed as Enbridge works on a pipeline replacement project this summer and fall.
Enbridge, which is staged at the old Eastgate Shopping Center on Oak Street, was requesting the presence of a Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Enbridge said it would pay the officer $65 an hour to patrol. The contract will cost the township nothing.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Jim Ringler, township treasurer. “They are willing to pay for it, they have the funds to pay for it and they want a person up there with police powers.”
The township by unanimous vote approved Enbridge’s request during Monday’s regular meeting.
Ringler said Enbridge had a risk assessment performed on the Niles area, as it does with all of its work sites. The assessment indicated there was a low-to-moderate risk for something to happen, such as a protest getting out of hand.
“They just want to make sure they have peace out there, that they have control of the situation,” Ringler said.
Enbridge is expected to remain in Niles for the next several months while work continues on the pipeline replacement project.
The contract will remain in effect until the project is finished.