MICHIGAN – In response to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) approving a permit for Enbridge to construct the Line 5 oil tunnel through the heart of the Great Lakes, coalition coordinator David Holtz of Oil & Water Don’t Mix issued the following statement:
“EGLE’s approval of an untested, risky industrial experiment in the heart of the Great Lakes is disastrous. An oil tunnel won’t protect the Great Lakes. Michigan and the nation cannot afford to wait six years or more to construct a dangerous tunnel project while the existing Line 5 continues to threaten the Straits of Mackinac every day. The Whitmer administration that approved this permit must now press the federal government to act immediately to shut down the existing pipeline before a catastrophic rupture poisons the Great Lakes.
Line 5 puts our nation’s largest freshwater system at risk, including waters connected to 400 rivers, streams, and wetlands that help provide drinking water to 40 million people. A spill would harm wildlife, strain small business owners, damage Michigan’s tourism economy, and threaten sacred and legally protected Indigenous lands and waterways in one of the most biologically sensitive areas in North America. This shortsighted decision will have consequences for years to come, but the most urgent responsibility is clear. We must protect the Great Lakes now by shutting down Line 5.
Governor Whitmer has had the power to reject Enbridge’s tunnel scheme, but her administration has chosen to cozy up to Big Oil rather than put Michiganders' needs and the health of the Great Lakes first. Not only will the tunnel further our reliance on foreign oil at a time when gas prices are skyrocketing, but it will also mean we spend the next six years stuck in traffic behind the company’s construction trucks while Line 5 remains a ticking time bomb for Michigan and the Great Lakes.
Thousands of comments were submitted to Michigan’s environmental regulatory agency opposing permits granting Canadian corporation Enbridge to construct the Line 5 oil tunnel, but that didn’t seem to matter for decision-makers at EGLE. They’d rather give a foreign corporation a blank check than take the legitimate concerns of our state’s residents seriously.
EGLE’s decision puts Michigan taxpayers on the hook for a risky, $750 million or more construction project with a century-long $4 billion liability. For the future of the Great Lakes and small business owners, the stakes couldn’t be higher. We will examine other pathways to shut down Line 5 and reject the tunnel project one way or another.”
Below are additional comments from experts and coalition members
“Today, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has decided in favor of Energy (aka Enbridge) rather than to protect the Environment, Great Lakes, and People of Michigan. I can’t imagine a project that represents a greater risk to the environment and the Great Lakes than the Enbridge Line 5 Oil Pipeline Tunnel. This project could result in a catastrophic release of oil or natural gas liquids into the Straits by damaging one of the existing pipelines or from the destruction of the tunnel/pipeline once it's operational. Other risks include sending seven million gallons of wastewater a day into the Straits, and a methane explosion during and after construction of the tunnel, which is exactly what happened in 1971 when a tunnel miles under Lake Huron near Port Huron killed 22 tunnel workers. If the Line 5 Oil Tunnel explodes, the death toll and/or environmental consequences could be unimaginable. This is a very disappointing decision.” – Brian O’Mara (expert on tunneling and geoenvironmental risk and Principal Consultant at Agate Harbor Advisors LLC)
"At the very moment more and more people are demanding that our shared right to clean water take priority over insatiable corporate greed, EGLE has chosen the coward’s path of status quo, politicized capitulation to the special interests of the fossil fuel industry. This decision exemplifies the disastrous prioritization of profits above people and planet. After many decades of deep-pocketed lobbying, the flawed norms of the permitting process essentially prohibit a sober, sane reckoning of cumulative impacts - both in the short term of a project’s entire footprint, and in the long term of historic degradation and future loss. It is disgusting to witness EGLE succumb to skewed measures that pit financial ease against scientific reality. This decision is a betrayal of all who understand the Great Lakes ecosystems as our shared responsibility to protect and restore for the next 7 Generations." – Dr. Nichole Keway Biber (Michigan Water Justice Manager for Clean Water Action, tribal citizen of Little Traverse Bay of Odawa Indians)
“EGLE has shirked their most fundamental duty – protecting our Great Lakes and our citizens. These lakes are the defining feature of our state, our culture, and our future. The only responsible path forward is decommissioning the existing dual pipelines in the Straits and supporting a rapid transition toward clean, renewable energy sources that does not jeopardize one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water.” – Ashley Rudzinski, Climate & Environment Program Director for Groundwork Center
“Today’s decision puts the heart of Michigan at risk. This tunnel puts our Great Lakes, clean drinking water, and ecosystems in jeopardy of a catastrophic oil spill. Instead of prioritizing the safety and well-being of Michiganders, the Whitmer Administration has sided with a billion-dollar foreign oil company, while Michigan taxpayers will assume all the risks for decades to come. For years, Michiganders have implored our state regulators to block this from happening. We’re not going to stop fighting until Line 5 is decommissioned.” – Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Executive Committee member
“EGLE’s approval of a risky fossil fuel project that degrades water quality in order to extend profits for Big Oil is a denial of the reality of the many energy alternatives to Line Five that Michiganders have long demanded.” – Dr. Denise Keele, Executive Director of Michigan Climate Action Network
“The State of Michigan has betrayed us today, every swimmer, every boater, every fisher, every Tribal Nation, and every Michigander who loves these waters. The Straits of Mackinac, the sacred place where my Tribe’s creation story begins, have been handed over to a foreign corporation with a history that is nothing short of disastrous. Enbridge has spilled oil, committed safety violations, trespassed on lands, shattered ecosystems, pierced aquifers, violated our laws, and repeatedly shown contempt for tribal sovereignty. They have left devastation in their wake, and now they’re being rewarded with responsibility over one of the most precious and sacred resources in our state. The Great Lakes are not safe in their hands. This decision is a deep betrayal of our Great Lake State, and we will confront it immediately, fiercely, and without hesitation.” – Whitney Gravelle, President of the Bay Mills Indian Community
“The Straits of Mackinac are not a piece of Enbridge oil infrastructure; they are the heart of creation for Anishinaabe people and a vital source of life for all who depend on the Great Lakes. We will pursue every legal avenue to defend treaty rights, protect drinking water, and preserve tribal lifeways from another Enbridge disaster.” – David Gover, Managing Attorney for Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
“Our environmental laws, the looming climate crisis, and simple common sense tell us that an oil pipeline doesn’t belong in the Great Lakes. Today’s decision is a setback, but we’re not giving up. A future without oil in the Great Lakes is still possible.” – Debbie Chizewer, Managing Attorney for Earthjustice
"Today feels like a punch in the gut. I think it’s safe to say we’re incredibly disappointed that Governor Whitmer chose to sell out the Great Lakes to a Canadian oil corporation instead of standing up for the people of Michigan and the health and safety of our climate and water. For all that we know about the EGLE permitting process for this project, it’s reasonable to conclude that this decision was made at a higher level than EGLE. If it was on the merits alone, the permit would have been denied today. The tunnel is a false solution, and it’s time we decommission Line 5, rather than invest in new fossil fuel infrastructure in the heart of the Great Lakes. Thousands of people have been speaking up for years in opposition to this project, and despite today’s decision, we will not stop.” – Julie Geisinger, Campaign Director, Oil & Water Don’t Mix
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