April marks the 71st anniversary of the completion of the Enbridge Line 5 oil and natural gas liquids pipeline. More than two decades past its design life, Line 5 has leaked more than 33 times and poses an ongoing threat to tribal communities and others along its 645-mile-long path. With key decisions relating to the future of Line 5 in the courts, the Oil and Water Don’t Mix coalition is calling on Governor Gretchen Whitmer to once again become a vocal advocate for the shutdown of the pipeline to protect the Great Lakes.
The aging pipeline poses an enormous threat in three major areas to the Great Lakes and waterways at the heart of the culture of indigenous peoples.
- Enbridge is trespassing on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa lands upstream from Lake Superior, threatening the wild rice and fisheries the tribe depends on. The pipeline crosses a remote area of the tribal lands where a meander in the Bad River erodes the soil and threatens to expose the pipeline and cause a rupture.
- The aging pipeline runs close to the northernmost part of Lake Michigan, paralleling U.S. Route 2 for miles along the scenic, sandy shoreline west of St. Ignace. Land management agency officials have cited this area as having the greatest potential for an oil spill from Line 5. One spill of five barrels’ worth of oil in the Hiawatha National Forest went uncleaned for 30 years, while it is not clear if Enbridge reported the spill when it happened.
- Line 5 splits into two near St. Ignace where the pipelines cross the Straits of Mackinac. The Straits are the worst possible place for a potential oil disaster since the two pipelines only lie on the lakebed. Enbridge has refused to honor a shutdown order from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and has aggressively fought Attorney General Dana Nessel’s efforts to enforce Michigan's laws regarding the Canadian company's violation of the public trust and their easement agreement with the state. The company has also refused to secure insurance in the event of a disaster, which could cost tens of billions of dollars to clean up, if a cleanup is even possible.
The immense threats posed by Line 5 have been known for a decade, prompted by the devastating disaster of Enbridge’s Line 6B (now Line 78) rupture and discharge of 1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River watershed. The massive pipeline corporation has used delay and distraction to reap billions of dollars from the products flowing through its pipeline. A large and growing community of people across the U.S. and Canada are calling for action to end this unacceptable threat to the people and waters of the Great Lakes region.