Organizations in Michigan and beyond say more than 92,000 comments were submitted to Michigan’s environmental regulatory agency opposing the state granting Canadian corporation Enbridge permits to construct the Line 5 oil tunnel.
Tallied by eight groups in Michigan and nationally, the figure represented includes comments submitted to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and correspondences to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and EGLE Director Phil Roos that urge these officials to reject Enbridge’s tunnel proposal.
The proposed massive oil tunnel project has been called a “recipe for a disaster" by experts. Yet no government agency has fully studied the entire proposed project’s impact on local communities, the natural environment and Tribal cultural resources. Enbridge’s project would destroy wetlands in the heart of the Great Lakes, directly produce 27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually, and create the risk for explosion in one of the world’s most sensitive freshwater ecosystems that generates billions in economic activity.
Michigan would be on the hook for owning the entire tunnel for at least 99 years, creating potential liabilities for taxpayers while allowing the already aging and deteriorating 645 mile pipeline to continue operating across the length of the state. A federal court ordered Enbridge to shut down Line 5 in Wisconsin in 2024. Enbridge is asking the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to reroute the pipeline despite opposition from the Bad River Band tribe, whose lands could be impacted by the relocated pipeline.
On the heels of the Trump administration’s bogus “energy emergency” directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bypass a planned full environmental study of alternatives to Enbridge’s proposed oil tunnel, EGLE has the statutory authority to deny permits that would harm water quality, threaten ecosystems, or perpetuate climate risks. Polling conducted this summer found that over 70 percent of Michiganders reject the idea of their officials giving exclusive leasing rights of state-owned infrastructure to a foreign oil company for 99 years. The Great Lakes are irreplaceable public resources that demand the highest level of protection, and EGLE must not allow Enbridge to dodge state oversight through legal maneuvering.
“The thousands of comments submitted to EGLE this summer shows that Michiganders are fed up with the Enbridge tunnel scheme that will keep foreign oil profits flowing from its existing, 72-year-old pipeline through our Great Lakes,” said Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator of the Oil and Water Don’t Mix Coalition and Michigan director of Clean Water Action. “We’re still using our voice over the next several months to pressure Governor Whitmer and her administration to make the right decision and reject the Line 5 oil tunnel.”
“Michigan is on the verge of selling out Americans’ largest source of fresh surface water to a Canadian oil company with a terrible track record,” said Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney for Earthjustice. “Gov. Whitmer has a choice: Bow to the Trump Administration, or protect every American’s right to enjoy and use the Great Lakes now and in the future. The Bay Mills Indian Community and other Michigan Tribal Nations have made their wishes clear: It’s time to get oil out of the Great Lakes now, before it’s too late."
"Because the proposed tunnel will have significant – and potentially catastrophic – impacts on Michigan’s public trust waters and natural resources, and because these impacts can be avoided through available alternatives, EGLE must deny the permit under Michigan’s environmental laws and regulations," said Kacey Cook, staff Attorney for Flow Water Advocates.
“Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel puts us at risk for catastrophic damage to our Great Lakes and the clean drinking water they supply. An oil spill would contaminate the water for tens of millions, cost billions of taxpayer dollars to clean up, and destroy Michigan fishing and tourism,” said Elayne Coleman, director of the Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter. “Thousands of people spoke up to say this is not a risk worth taking. Now it’s time for EGLE to make the right choice: stop the Line 5 tunnel, and protect Michigan and the Great Lakes.”
"Enbridge needs to hear us loud and clear: we will not allow a corporation to stomp on Great Lakes protections," said Beth Wallace, Great Lakes climate and energy director for the National Wildlife Federation. "Over 90,000 comments is a mandate to EGLE to do their duty, fully evaluate the risk, harm, and alternatives to Line 5, and above all, not bend the law for anyone."