MICHIGAN – Recently the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced they are narrowing the scope of their environmental review process for the Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel. Citing its grave danger to the health and safety of the Great Lakes, Sean McBrearty, Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign coordinator and Clean Water Action Michigan Legislative and Policy Director, issued the following statement:
“It’s deeply concerning that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is backtracking on completing a thorough environmental analysis of the proposed Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel project. The Army Corps is wrongly discounting the Wisconsin reroute as connected to Enbridge’s oil tunnel project, instead only considering alternatives that deliver oil across the Straits of Mackinac. Severely limiting their scope of review to ignore climate considerations and forgo an independent analysis of the construction and planning is an attack on the Great Lakes and our quality of life.
The Line 5 oil tunnel stands in the way of ongoing national and state commitments to fighting the climate crisis and building out 21st century green infrastructure, and any action to extend the lifespan of this 70-year-old ticking time bomb is a fool’s errand. The decision from the Army Corps reaffirms our call to President Biden to revoke the presidential permit for Line 5 – we’re just one oil spill away from disaster.”
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Oil & Water Don't Mix, founded in 2013 at the Straits of Mackinac, is a Michigan's citizens campaign to shut down Enbridge Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac and protect the Great Lakes from oil pipelines. Our coalition is led by Native American tribes, local grassroots civic and environmental groups and statewide organizations and powered by 71,000 supporters from across the Great Lakes State and beyond.
Oil & Water Don’t Mix Steering Committee: Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), Clean Water Action, FLOW (For Love of Water), Groundwork Center for Resilient Families, League of Women Voters of Michigan, Michigan Climate Action Network, Michigan Environmental Council, Northern Michigan Environmental Council, Progress Michigan, Sierra Club, Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment, Straits of Mackinac Alliance, TC350