The Lansing City Council should get a move on it and approve Wolverine Pipe Line Company’s request to build a gasoline pipe within the city limits. The latest move is a planned vote next Monday on whether to accept the current plans to build.

Wolverine already has agreed to fulfill the 21 negotiated requirements presented for the pipeline. Provisions include safety test data, relocating the company to Portage and constructing barriers around pipe valves to protect them from out-of-control vehicles.

The proposed line would run for 26 miles, 22 miles of which would be near Interstate 96, designed to minimize the possibility of the pipe being damaged. The pipeline being replaced is a 65-year-old construction in Meridian Township. A plan to replace the old pipe was turned down in Meridian.

While there are understandable concerns that go along with gas being piped within a community, safety requirements are in place for a reason.

The leak that took place in the Jackson community in 2000, in which residents had to be evacuated, was an isolated incident.

Other options, such as gas being transported by truck, are just as dangerous, if not more so.

True, the proposed pipeline is a risk.

But the Lansing area and its consumers require gas, and it must be brought in as carefully as possible.

If done correctly, the pipe would be just such an option.

Wolverine has cooperated throughout the planning stages, responding to concerns and taking steps to assure safety.

The Lansing Board of Water and Light, by voicing concerns and opposition, may have good intentions as it says it is looking out for the health of the consumer.

But in the long run, every cost of the prolonged battle surrounding the pipeline and the possible solutions will be brought directly to the checkbooks of Wolverine’s customers.

The time has come for an ending to the conflict and for the construction to begin.