Sierra Club and partners attended The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) in Montreal to mobilize efforts against Enbridge's Line 5 fossil-fuel pipelines and the company's threat to biodiversity, climate and human health. Collaboration among experts, indigenous organizers and activists from both the U.S. and Canada raised awareness of the major threat posed by Line 5 and the need for the U.S. and Canada to work together to shut it down.
Sierra Club activists joined more than 67 organizations on December 10 at the March for Biodiversity and Human Rights, hosted by the Quebec Civil Society Collective for COP15, calling on international decision-makers to take concrete and ambitious action in the face of the biodiversity crisis.
The next day, Sierra Club and partners held a free teach-in, "Fighting Canadian Fossil Fuel Infrastructures in the U.S. and Canada." Nine experts, activists and Indigenous organizers brainstormed ways to work together on both sides of the international border to phase out existing fossil fuel infrastructure. Sierra Club organizer Tessine Murji, a native of Quebec who works with the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter, helped to organize the panel and, was the Sierra Club representative. A second event and media briefing on December 17 brought together Water Protectors and advocates to highlight the importance of protecting the Great Lakes from the threat of Line 5.
The December 11 teach-in brought attention to a worldwide audience about Enbridge, a Canadian company that owns and operates Line 5. The 69-year-old oil and natural gas liquids pipeline extends from Superior, WI, through the Straits of Mackinac between Lakes Michigan and Huron to Sarnia, Ontario. Enbridge has defied orders to shut down Line 5 because of easement violations as it crosses the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's land in Wisconsin and the Straits of Mackinac. Extensive litigation is underway on several fronts.
In an attempt to undermine the authority of tribes and the state of Michigan to enforce compliance with easements conditionally granted to the company, Canada has sought to invoke provisions of a 1977 transit pipeline treaty with the U.S. Canada seeks to prevent efforts to protect the Great Lakes and environment from a potentially catastrophic disaster from the deteriorating pipeline in the event of another break. To date, Line 5 has caused 33 spills amounting to about one million gallons. Line 5 is a shortcut between Canadian sites that produce and process most of the product flowing through the pipeline.
Enbridge has run an extensive marketing campaign to convince consumers that shutting down Line 5 will cost jobs and increase gas prices and insists the pipeline cannot be shut down based on the 1977 transit pipeline treaty. Enbridge’s claims are false. Previously classified court documents reveal that Enbridge experts stated gasoline prices would increase only 0.5¢ per gallon in Michigan and the Midwest without Line 5. Line 5 is unnecessary and poses a significant threat to biodiversity, climate, and human health.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline is impacting the entire Great Lakes region across borders, threatening catastrophe if it ruptures. Enbridge is operating illegally in two places and is pursuing permits at the state and federal levels for future projects to bypass these illegally operating segments. Enbridge has applied for permits from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to bypass the Bad River Band lands. However, their proposed route also has many environmentally sensitive areas and would not protect Lake Superior in the event of a break. In Michigan, Enbridge has proposed a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to replace the dual pipelines on the Great Lakes' bottomlands. Both the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers are considering this proposal, and the Army Corps has begun an environmental impact study to determine whether to issue a permit.
There are strong movements built up around the fight to shut down Line 5 and block Enbridge's efforts to run over tribal and state authority to compel a shutdown of the decrepit pipeline. Over the past several months, as developments around Line 5 made it clear that President Biden will be a major factor in the future of the pipeline, multiple state chapters, national staff and campaigns with Sierra Club have joined together to highlight the nationwide implications of the fight to shut down Line 5. The fight against climate change demands not just stopping proposed new fossil fuel infrastructure, but also starting to shut down existing facilities like Line 5.
Through binational and multi-state campaigns, Sierra Club has delivered 17,172 comments during the Army Corps comment period in Wisconsin (February—March) and 14,356 comments in the Army Corps comment period in Michigan (August—October). In addition, Sierra Club Wisconsin and 350 Wisconsin analyzed the 32,000 comments that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) received in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) release for Enbridge's proposed Line 5 expansion. The analysis shows that a majority of the unprecedented 32,000 comments oppose Line 5. Sierra Club Wisconsin has sent multiple letters to the Army Corps of Engineers, most recently calling on them to conduct an independent review of Enbridge’s Line 5 extension proposal. Together, Sierra Club Chapters in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Canada have educated their members and volunteers on the importance of shutting down Line 5 and are actively mobilizing members to contact President Biden and their respective Congressional representatives in opposition of the pipeline.
Additional Resources:
- Line 5 overview from Sierra Club Wisconsin
- Line 5 overview from Sierra Club Michigan
- Sierra Club is a member of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix Coalition, which has numerous educational resources on Line 5.