Enbridge Eviction Event, May 2021.
Photo by Whitney Gravelle, President and Chair, Bay Mills Indian Community.
Dear Jeanne,
Those who live in the Great Lakes region know it as the “ticking time bomb” — Enbridge’s decrepid Line 5 dual pipeline sitting on the bottom of the beautiful Straits of Mackinac. Constructed in 1953, the pipeline is now 19 years past its expiration date. Line 5 is a catastrophic oil spill waiting to happen.
Right now, we have an opportunity to help protect Michigan communities and local businesses, the Great Lakes, and our climate from this looming disaster. The Michigan Public Service Commission is accepting comments on Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 oil tunnel. This tunnel would be placed deep under the Straits, a “solution” never before attempted in the US, because of the high risk of explosion associated with it. Personalize and send your comment today.
In May of last year, the Bay Mills Indian Community in 1836 Treaty Territory banished(1) Enbridge’s Line 5 dual pipeline from all Tribal lands, including the Straits of Mackinac. Three days later, on May 13th, Michigan’s Governor Whitmer terminated the easement permitting Line 5 to cross the Straits. For the past year, Enbridge has been operating in violation of Tribal and Michigan law. In November, Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Tribal Nations sent a letter to President Biden(2) requesting the Administration support efforts to decommission Line 5.
You can help stop this ticking time bomb before it bursts, spilling unimaginable amounts of toxic fossil fuels into our Great Lakes. Send your comment now.
The Great Lakes represent more than 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. Millions of people depend on this water to survive. Along its path from Superior, Wisconsin, to Sarnia, Ontario, Line 5 threatens three Great Lakes and numerous precious rivers and streams, carrying up to 540,000 barrels per day of light crude oil and synthetic crude, as well as gas liquids such as propane.
Twice in the past few years, ship anchors have struck either the pipeline or its supporting structure. Good fortune has kept the pipeline from rupturing — so far.
Join us in marking the 1-year anniversary of Line 5 operating illegally in the Straits: urge the Michigan Public Service Commission to deny Enbridge’s request to extend the life of this dangerous pipeline. Now is the time to transcend our fossil fuel addiction and transition to safe, renewable energy.
The Anishinaabe people of Bay Mills say life as we know it began in the Straits of Mackinac. They consider the waters where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan a sacred space. Constructing an underwater tunnel to transport crude oil through such ecologically sensitive waters poses an untenable risk to the Tribe’s frontline Indigenous communities, fish populations, sacred burial sites, and medicinal plant species. As Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle explains, “the Straits of Mackinac are a precious and culturally sacred part of our ecosystem that should not be jeopardized in the name of corporate greed.”
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